Study Reveals Bias Among Doctors Who Classify X-rays for Coal Miner's Black Lung Claims UIC researchers first to publish data on B-reader financial conflicts of interest Getty Images April 1, 2021 — University of Illinois Chicago researchers are the first to report on the financial conflicts of interest that exist among doctors who review the chest X-rays of coal miners who file workers' compensation claims of totally disabling disease with the U.S. Department of Labor's Federal Black Lung Program. The UIC researchers found that the determinations of these doctors — who are known as B-readers and who are certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH — were strongly associated with the party that hired them.