Study reveals hundreds of black lung cases in Appalachia

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (AP) – A new research letter published in a medical journal details hundreds of cases of black lung disease in the Central Appalachian coalfields.

The study says three clinics in southwestern Virginia identified 416 coal miners with the deadly disease from January 2013 to February 2017. Of those, 157 lived in eastern Kentucky, according to the study published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that the study provides further evidence that progressive massive fibrosis, commonly called black lung, has surged in recent years among coal miners in Central Appalachia.

Scott Laney, one of the authors of the study, says the findings are shocking.

Most of the miners identified in the study were retired and had worked in mines for more than 25 years.

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Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com