Record contained sufficient evidence to support ALJ’s ultimate finding that claimant qualified for black lung disease benefits, where claimant established rebuttable presumption in favor of obtaining said benefits, since record showed that claimant, who suffers from breathing problems, spent at least 15 years working at coal mine, and that he suffered from totally disabling respiratory or pulmonary impairment. Moreover, while employer submitted opinions from two physicians indicating that claimant’s disability was related to other factors, ALJ could properly reject said opinions, where: (1) said physicians did not explain how they eliminated claimants’ 30 years of coal mine dust exposure as potential cause of his pulmonary impairment; (2) said physicians did not explain how claimant did not have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease given claimant’s years of treatment for said condition; and (3) opinion of third physician, who diagnosed claimant with clinical pneumoconiosis and ruled out heart disease as source of claimant’s disability, was supported by record. Ct. rejected employer’s contention that ALJ necessarily credited opinion that claimant’s drop in oxygen levels was not pulmonary related, or that Bd. erred in remanding ALJ’s initial decision that claimant could not invoke 15-year rebuttable presumption.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Black Lung Benefits Act