Lower Respirable Dust Standard Now Effective in U.S. Coal Mines
Today, August 1, 2016, is the effective date of the new, lower limit on coal-mine dust in American mines. This reduction is expected to reduce the…
Board Holds in Published, En Banc Case that Attorneys’ Fees for Defending a Fee Petition Are Proper Under the Black Lung Benefits Act (Clisso v. Elro Coal Co.)
First, apologies for the lack of new content over the past few months. There’s been relatively few precedential decisions issued in black lung claims, and at…
Sixth Circuit Affirms Miner’s Award in Published Decision, Holds ALJ Can Use Internet to Review Medical Literature (Dixie Fuel Co., LLC v. Director, OWCP [Hensley])
Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a Kentucky coal miner’s award of federal black lung benefits in a “for publication” decision,…
DOL Publishes Final Black Lung Rule re: Medical Disclosure, Modification, and More
In today’s Federal Register, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs published its final rule “Black Lung Benefits Act: Disclosure of Medical Information…
Arch Coal Sues DOL Over Former Patriot Coal Black Lung Claims
On Friday, April 8, 2016, Arch Coal filed a suit against the U.S. Department of Labor for issues related to black lung benefits and the Patriot…
Black Lung Rally in Pikeville, KY
On Saturday, April 9th, a group of coal miners and others held a rally in Pikeville, Kentucky to raise awareness of issues related to black lung. …
U.S. Department of Labor Launches E-Filing for District Directors’ Offices
On Friday afternoon, April 1st, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Division of Coal Mine Workers’ Compensation (DCMWC) announced the launch of its electronic filing system for…
Notice Regarding Email Issue and Posts You May Have Missed
For some reason, we were having some issues with emails properly going out to our subscribers for the past few weeks. We think we solved it…
Jones Act Case Involving Seaman Alleging Lung Disease Caused by Working on Coal Freighter (Spencer v. Grand River Navigation Co.)
Earlier this week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a decision involving a seaman who filed a claim under the Jones Act…
Sixth Circuit Affirms Miner’s Award of Black Lung Benefits, Holds ALJ Can Give Weight to Doctor Whose Opinion Does Not Address Subsequent Evidence (Lance Coal Corp./Golden Oak Mining Co. v. Caudill)
Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a Kentucky coal miner’s award of federal black lung benefits via an unpublished decision. Lance…