Feds reinstate physician B Reader Program after HHS staffing cuts left it in limbo

The federal government has reinstated the physician B Reader Program—which trains and certifies docs to identify work-related lung disease on radiographs—after staffing cuts left it in limbo. 

The CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently announced it would not be accepting new patient screening requests, citing workforce reductions. First established in 1969, NIOSH’s Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program (CWHSP) provides cost-free black lung screenings to miners, determining their right to transfer to safer, low-dust jobs due to health concerns. 

However, the Trump administration has now pulled an about-face and is reinstating the B Reader Program, the American College Radiology reported Thursday. ACR—which provides a course to prepare radiologists and other physicians for the certification exam—applauded the decision. 

“Certified physician B Readers are critical for monitoring the respiratory health of workers in several occupations in addition to coal miner surveillance by the CWHSP,” the college said in a May 8 news update prior to the suspension. 

Along with miners, the B Reader Program provides radiograph reads to monitor lung damage stemming from crystalline silica and asbestos. Since its launch, CWHSP has delivered over 500,000 classifications to 300,000-plus coal miners and monitored almost 22,000 individuals with black lung disease, ACR estimated. 

The college said both the B Reader and Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program were paused after agencywide consolidation plans. In response, ACR and others mounted a legal challenge, with Health and Human Services now rescinding these reductions. 

“The college previously communicated with key congressional offices to support the continuation of NIOSH services, staffing and funding of the physician B Reader certification program and the CWHSP,” the American College of Radiology reported May 15. “ACR noted these programs are critical to supporting workers’ respiratory health and safety and advancing the administration’s domestic policy goals.”  

NIOSH was slated to lose at least 900 workers, representing over 90% of the entire agency workforce, NPR reported May 14. However, a federal lawsuit brought by a coal miner, along with pressure from some members of Congress, helped prompt the reinstatement. A total of 328 NIOSH employees have been reinstated, according to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who answered questions about the layoffs during a hearing Wednesday. 

The B Reader program was in the news earlier this year after the CDC considered letting nurse practitioners and physician assistants read X-rays to bolster participant counts. The request for information was met with a “resounding backlash” from ACR, its members, and other physicians.