IM2
Diamond Member
- Mar 11, 2015
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And once again, we see just how great Trump connects with the working class. In short, white working-class people got conned last November and fell for it.
Coal miners head to court over Trump cuts to black lung screening staff
Two West Virginia coal miners with black lung disease testified before a federal judge on Wednesday during a hearing on the Trump administration’s decision to effectively shutter a program that provides free screenings to coal miners, a move advocates have said threatens to bring more disease and death to coal-dependent communities across Appalachia.
Last month, the Trump administration fired roughly two-thirds of the staff at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the division of the Department of Health and Human Services that provides the free screenings for the disease through the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program, The Washington Post previously reported.
Black lung is a deadly and incurable disease caused by inhaling toxic coal dust. NIOSH epidemiologists recently found that 1 in 5 longtime coal miners in Central Appalachia have black lung, the highest level recorded in 25 years. The fired staff also oversaw a job transfer program called Part 90 that entitles coal miners to transfer to work in a less dusty part of the mine if they develop early signs of the disease.
As a result of the layoffs, the health surveillance program is no longer “providing any new medical screenings to coal miners or accepting any new requests for review of medical information to determine coal miners’ rights for transfer to low-dust jobs,” according to a notice posted on the program website.
Coal miners head to court over Trump cuts to black lung screening staff
Two West Virginia coal miners with black lung disease testified before a federal judge on Wednesday during a hearing on the Trump administration’s decision to effectively shutter a program that provides free screenings to coal miners, a move advocates have said threatens to bring more disease and death to coal-dependent communities across Appalachia.
Last month, the Trump administration fired roughly two-thirds of the staff at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the division of the Department of Health and Human Services that provides the free screenings for the disease through the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program, The Washington Post previously reported.
Black lung is a deadly and incurable disease caused by inhaling toxic coal dust. NIOSH epidemiologists recently found that 1 in 5 longtime coal miners in Central Appalachia have black lung, the highest level recorded in 25 years. The fired staff also oversaw a job transfer program called Part 90 that entitles coal miners to transfer to work in a less dusty part of the mine if they develop early signs of the disease.
As a result of the layoffs, the health surveillance program is no longer “providing any new medical screenings to coal miners or accepting any new requests for review of medical information to determine coal miners’ rights for transfer to low-dust jobs,” according to a notice posted on the program website.
MSN
www.msn.com
