Miners across Appalachia are dying of black lung. Now they're coming to terms with decades of dedication to a job that would drastically change their lives and that of their families.

The last black lung study of surface coal miners in 2002 involved about 10,500 miners and found an illness rate of fewer than 2 percent. The rate of advanced disease was only 0.1 percent.

In an extraordinary rebuke to a doctor at one of America’s top hospitals, the U.S. Department of Labor has informed about 1,100 coal miners that their claims for black lung benefits may have been ...

But if the rule is adopted, the agency predicts it would save only 63 coal miner lives and avoid 244 cases of black lung disease over 60 years. An investigation by Public Health Watch, NPR, Louisville ...

West Virginia Miners with black lung say poisonous dust exposure rule needs more enforcement, companies try to falsify tests Coal miners in WV said a proposal to further limit silica dust exposure ...

Despite legislation meant to enact safety practices to prevent coal miners from getting black lung disease, workers are still being exposed to high levels of dust. Hari Sreenivasan talks to NPR ...

The disclosure led the U.S. Department of Labor to notify about 1,100 coal miners that their claims for black lung benefits may have been wrongly denied because of Wheeler’s findings.

Coal miners diagnosed with black lung are eligible for federal benefits from the Black Lung Trust Fund, which helps with medical care and expenses if they're no longer able to work.

Coal miners leaving an American mine at the end of a shift in April 1974. Photo by Jack Corn The central Appalachian coalfields are in the middle of an unprecedented epidemic of severe black lung ...

This story was originally published by KHN. Like most coal miners’ loved ones, Liz Williams has endured many days and nights of worry. Throughout the four decades her husband, Michael, worked in ...

Dr. Brandon Crum reviews X-rays of coal miners with severe black lung disease at his clinic in Pikeville, Ky. "As of now, we are almost at 700 cases of complicated black lung," said Dr. Brandon ...