The Tragedy Known as Black Lung Disease Makes a Strong Comeback
Wednesday, September 17, 2014 | North Carolina Workers Compensation Lawyer | Author: | Original Article
Coal miners develop black lung disease, or coal workers' pneumoconiosis, through prolonged exposure to the coal dust in a mine's atmosphere. It's a miserable occupational lung disease that forces miners to live out their last days coughing and gasping for air. Families should not have to go through this preventable tragedy. Witnessing a family member slowly suffocated to death is unconscionable. NIOSH says the disease played a role in an estimated 10,000 deaths over a recent 10-year period.
The tragic comeback could been prevented and the numbers, had the responsible parties acted, should have declined. Instead PMF is at levels not seen since the 1970’s. It is preventable but once a miner has PMF the occupational disease is not curable. At best, according to the American Lung Association, “doctors treat the symptoms and complications of the disease to lessen breathing difficulties”.
“Each of these cases is a tragedy and represents a failure among all those responsible for preventing this severe disease," wrote David J. Blackley and Cara N. Halldin, officials with NIOSH, a branch of the Centers for Disease Control.