{"id":15249,"date":"2018-04-09T15:40:20","date_gmt":"2018-04-09T23:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/ky-lawmakers-didnt-consult-federal-experts-about-limiting-black-lung-claims-reviews\/"},"modified":"2018-04-09T15:40:20","modified_gmt":"2018-04-09T23:40:20","slug":"ky-lawmakers-didnt-consult-federal-experts-about-limiting-black-lung-claims-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/ky-lawmakers-didnt-consult-federal-experts-about-limiting-black-lung-claims-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"Ky. Lawmakers Didn't Consult Federal Experts About Limiting Black Lung Claims Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Howard Berkes<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Excised and preserved lungs on display at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Morgantown, W.Va., in 2012, show the dramatic effect of black lung disease.<\/p>\n

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Howard Berkes\/NPR<\/p>\n

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Howard Berkes\/NPR<\/p>\n

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Updated at 8 p.m. ET<\/strong><\/p>\n

The federal agency that trains, tests and certifies the physicians who read X-rays and diagnose the deadly coal miners’ disease black lung said today it was not consulted by Kentucky lawmakers in the 14 months they considered a new law that mostly limits diagnoses to pulmonologists working for coal companies.<\/p>\n

As NPR and Ohio Valley ReSource first reported<\/a>, the new Kentucky law<\/a> bans certified radiologists from reading X-rays used to award state black lung compensation. That leaves out radiologists with extensive experience in reading chest X-rays and diagnosing black lung, a disease caused by inhalation of coal and silica dust. <\/p>\n

Instead, the law reserves that task for pulmonologists, and only six in Kentucky are certified to read black lung X-rays. Four of those six typically work for coal companies, according to an NPR review of federal black lung claims.<\/p>\n

Training, testing and certification are provided by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a federal research agency. The agency certifies “B readers” who are uniquely qualified to diagnose black lung based on X-rays.<\/p>\n

“NIOSH was not consulted about this bill,” said spokeswoman Christina Spring, who also provided the comparative pass\/fail rates of certified physicians who are required to take recertification exams.<\/p>\n