College of Radiology Blasts New WC Law on Black Lung Disease

Tuesday, April 10, 2018 | 0

The American College of Radiology is urging Kentucky lawmakers to repeal the state's new workers' compensation law, because the group says it severely restricts the number of doctors who can diagnose black lung disease.

“This is a matter of life and death for many people and politics should be left out of it,” William Thorwarth Jr., CEO of the college, said in a report by West Virginia Public Broadcasting. “We hope that the Kentucky legislature will rescind this new law and work with the medical provider community to save more lives.”

HB2 passed the legislature and was signed by the governor last month. It makes sweeping changes to workers' compensation and requires that all radiologists, known as B Readers, also be certified pulmonologists if they diagnose black lung disease.

Democratic lawmakers spoke out against the measure, saying it would eliminate black lung claims by coal miners because so few doctors meet the new criteria. The radio report showed that just six doctors in Kentucky who are B Readers are also pulmonologists, and four of those have worked mostly for coal companies and their insurers.

In recent years, the number of black lung diagnoses has also risen sharply, the report said.