Senate to Probe Flaws With Black Lung Program

— -- Lawmakers have called a hearing to address concerns that a federal labor program for years may have unfairly denied benefits for coal miners who suffer from black lung disease.

“The current system of black lung claims has proven to be rife with problems, leading to undue denials and lengthy delays in miners’ pursuit of justice,” said Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.), who is part of an effort in Congress to reform the program.

Casey said he called the Senate committee hearing, scheduled for Tuesday, to “begin to look at the root causes of these issues and begin to outline possible legislative solutions.”

Flaws with the federal black lung program were highlighted last fall in a year-long ABC News investigation with the Center for Public Integrity, and already the U.S. Department of Labor has pledged to take a fresh look at cases that relied on the medical opinions of a leading Johns Hopkins doctor whose work for coal companies helped lead to benefits being denied to thousands of miners over the last two decades. The reports demonstrated examples of miners who were denied benefits based on doctors’ conclusions that they did not have severe black lung, only to have autopsies prove – after their deaths – that they had the disease.

FULL COVERAGE: Out of Breath, Black Lung Investigation

New Hope for Coal Miners Seeking Black Lung Benefits

Top Hospital Suspends Black Lung Program After ABC News Report

Casey is among several lawmakers from coal producing states who have voiced concern following the ABC News-CPI report.

In an interview for ABC News’ original report, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a Democrat from West Virginia, called the findings "a total, national disgrace."

"The deck is stacked in theory and in practice against coal miners, men and women, and it is tragic," he said.

Casey said the “serious and thought provoking” news reports “helped provide momentum” for the congressional hearing.

“There's still a good deal of legislative work we have to do to make sure we're putting in place a law, or the elements of a law, so that this kind of fraud can't be perpetrated again,” he told ABC News in June.

One of those scheduled to testify before the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety is the Labor Department's senior attorney, Patricia Smith. She told ABC News in June that the agency is preparing to notify every miner whose benefits were denied based in part on the doctor's X-ray readings that they should consider reapplying for those benefits.

"This sends a signal that the Department of Labor hasn't sent in a long time," Casey said. "That they're not going to tolerate a system that's rigged."

The Labor Department action came in response to the report by ABC News and the Center for Public Integrity that found the head of the Hopkins black lung program, Dr. Paul S. Wheeler, had not reported a single instance of severe black lung in the more than 1,500 claims that the news outlets reviewed going back to the year 2000. Labor department officials said they were unaware of Wheeler's record until the ABC News report was broadcast.

"It was shocking," Smith said.

A Labor Department bulletin sent out to district directors in June instructed them to "(1) take notice of this reporting and (2) not credit Dr. Wheeler's negative readings... in the absence of persuasive evidence" challenging the conclusions of the news organizations.