New law bars Kentucky radiologists from reading x-rays in black lung cases

A week-old law in Kentucky is barring federally certified radiologists from reading x-rays in state black lung compensation cases, leaving the task to the six pulmonologists who practice in the area, NPR has reported.

The measure ensures black lung, an often fatal disease triggered by coal miners’ heavy exposure to coal dust, cannot be diagnosed by radiologists—even those certified as “B readers” by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and out-of-state radiologists who are licensed to practice in Kentucky. Some view the new law as biased, since four of the six pulmonologists who are federally certified to detect black lung are regularly employed by coal companies. 

“Throughout the United States, I know of nowhere where radiologists are taken completely out of the evaluation for potential black lung disease,” radiologist James Brandon Crum, DO, told NPR.  “That’s what we’re primarily trained in.”

Crum is one of the handful of radiologists who will now be excluded from reading black lung X-rays. About a year ago, his practice helped expose one of the biggest clusters of complicated black lung ever documented.

“I do believe the coal industry is writing this bill to exclude certain doctors that they don’t like,” Phillip Wheeler, an attorney in Pikeville, Kentucky, said.

For the full report, visit NPR’s website: