Attn: West Virginia: Who Brought Black Lung Health Workers Back To Work? It Was A Judge's Order, Not Your Orange God
A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the reinstatement of nearly 200 fired federal workers who screen coal miners for black lung, a deadly and incurable disease caused by inhaling toxic coal dust. A day later, the workers were back on the job after the Trump administration complied with the order. U.S. District Judge Irene C. Berger issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday that compels the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to bring back the workers in the Coal Workers’ Health Surveillance Program.
Berger said Trump administration officials “lack the authority to unilaterally cancel” the screening program, which was mandated by the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969. She ordered the program to be fully restored, with “no pause, stoppage or gap in the protections and services.”
Under the screening program, coal miners can receive free and confidential chest X-rays to determine whether their lung tissue is damaged. Those who are diagnosed with black lung can transfer to a less dusty part of the mine without a pay cut, and they can apply for federal compensation for medical treatments and prescription drugs. The screening program offers contracts to radiologists across the country who are certified to evaluate X-rays for black lung. It also employs epidemiologists who recently concluded that 1 in 5 longtime coal miners in Central Appalachia has black lung — the highest level recorded in 25 years.
On April 1, the Trump administration fired most of the staff working on the program as part of massive layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services, The Washington Post previously reported. Many staffers were placed on administrative leave and told of their termination effective June 2.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/05/14/judge-reinstates-coal-workers-black-lung/