Alleged actions of certain lawyers as well as others in attempting to deny benefits to miners who are suffering from the debilitating effects of black lung disease. Black lung disease is caused through the inhalation of coal mine dust, and it tends to i should say it leads to severe breathing complications and is found mostly in central appalachia, in particular the states of pennsylvania, West Virginia, kentucky and virginia. According to the department of labor, black lung disease contributed to the death t deaths of over 75,000 minders from 1968 to 2007. That averages to over 1,900 miner death cans per year over deaths per year over a 39year period. Thats an extraordinary number. Im a not sure how widely reported that number is. And while overall rates have dropped since 1968, Research Conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and health shows that there has been a spike since the early 1990s particularly in the most severe, fastprogressing type of black lung disea