Johns Hopkins Hospital’s black lung x-ray program has been suspended following an investigation by the Center for Public Integrity and ABC News.
The investigation, published on the center’s web site, alleges that Dr. Paul Wheeler, a radiologist from Johns Hopkins, reviewed more than 1,500 x-rays of coal miners’ lungs since 2000 and never found a single instance of black lung, which would automatically qualify the miner for disability benefits under a federal program. The report states that Dr. Wheeler’s findings are being used by the coal industry to refute claims of black lung and ultimately deny monthly benefit payments to the patients. The center’s investigation documented that black lung patients have lost more than 800 cases after at least one other physician had found evidence of the disease on an x-ray that Dr. Wheeler read as negative. In addition, the report notes that the black lung unit at Hopkins receives funding from coal mining companies to perform the examinations. Physicians do not receive any financial incentives for participating in the black lung program, according to a statement on the Hopkins website.
As a result of the study, officials from the United Mine Workers of America union are calling for Dr. Wheeler to be prohibited from performing any x-ray readings related to the disease.
"We take very seriously the questions raised in a recent ABC News report about our second opinions for pneumoconiosis including black lung disease, and we are carefully reviewing the news story and our pneumoconiosis service," Hopkins said in the statement.
Read the full investigative report here.