That black President? Couldn't trust him, not born here. Now, I feel like a failure as a white guy.

Try to load up on life insurance, if you can find coverage. I bet your balls grew 2 sizes that day, the day Russia gave Trump our Oval Office. Congrats, and sucks to be you,

My grandfather was an Appalachian Coal Miner. He had black lung.

Mine was from Kentucky

My grandfather took my father into the mines when he was 16 yrs old, to help feed the family. He was smart enough to run off & join the marines when he was old enough. But it killed him anyway in the end.

It makes me very sad to hear that this horrible disease is making a comeback.

The NPR investigation also found that the likely cause of the epidemic is longer work shifts for miners and the mining of thinner coal seams. Massive mining machines must cut rock with coal and the resulting dust contains silica, which is far more toxic than coal dust.

The spike in PMF diagnoses is also due to layoffs and retirements brought on by the decline in coal mining.

Miners who had put off getting checked for black lung earlier began streaming into clinics, especially if they needed the medical and wage replacement benefits provided by black lung compensation programs.

For years, a Johns Hopkins faculty member, Dr. John Wheeler, was the coal industry's go-to expert on black lung. And by "go-to," I mean Wheeler was brought in on more than 1,500 black lung claims by the coal industry, and never (as in not once) certified a case of black lung based on his review of the records. Because he was with the prestigious Johns Hopkins University, Wheeler's opinion often carried the decision, and benefits were denied to claimants. After the grieving families filed a suit against JHU and Wheeler, JHU quietly dropped their black lung program, which had been lavishly funded by (ta da!) the coal industry.

It isn't like this is a new phenomenon. Grandfather was a foreman in a coal mine in Pennsylvania. He was the one who walked into the mine with a canary to check the air out.

After looking at what was posted, it makes me wonder if either the workers or the mine owners are making the decision not to wear protective face masks.

I live in the western Ky coal fields. Black lung is also rampant here. They voted for trump too. Then he cut funding for the black lung funding and clinics.

Then they have should be sued for malpractice and dereliction of duty and their Hippocratic oath. They knew just like the asbestos claims that it was deadly. They knew and let it continue as the poisoning continued. They knew and received their hush money.

MY BIL died of asbestos poisoning. It takes 30 years for it to show. Thirty years to the date he was diagnosed. One year late he was dead. Same is true of black lung.

They are complicit.

His tremendous lawsuit settlement cam in last year. All $35.00 of it.

I know their were 14 lawyers against one.

Hard to believe we're still alowing this in the 21st century. I guess automation doesn't work, but, I guess we allow gun deaths, car crash deaths, so, this is just another example of "the greatest nation in the world."

issue. I was lucky I went in the steel mill, there is no way I would have ever gone into a mine. We had issues too but
not as a bad the miners.

"Oh, yeah? Well, solar is dangerous too. I once got a horrible, a terrible sunburn playing golf. And that wind power is dangerous to older gentlemen like me with complicated hairpieces."

But they will never admit it sadly.