Detail View: Colorado Coal Project: Interview with Dr. Harvey W. Phelps and his patients

Colorado Coal Project

Interview with Dr. Harvey W. Phelps and his patients

Margolis, Eric, 1947-

http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n00101170

McMahan, Ronald L.

http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no94033808

Coal mines and mining

http://id.worldcat.org/fast/865355

Black Lung Benefits Act of 1972 (United States)

http://id.worldcat.org/fast/1371093

Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (United States)

http://id.worldcat.org/fast/1362574

Coal mines and mining--Colorado

http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh97002598

Lungs--Dust diseases--Colorado

Silicosis--Colorado

Interviews

http://id.worldcat.org/fast/1423832

The interviewee (a physician, working in Pueblo) discusses symptoms of pneumoconiosis (black lung disease) in coal miners. X-ray results in western miners are more diffuse than in eastern miners of anthracite coal and usually lead to a negative result. Pulmonary function/ventilation tests are often normal (in non-smoking miners). Further testing of arterial blood gases shows only a small percentage of oxygen is being extracted from the lungs into the blood. Without treatment, affected individuals often die of heart failure. Dr. Phelps claims the disease in Colorado is mostly one of silicosis, due to drilling or grinding hard rock. X-ray anomalies seen at sea level are rarely seen in miners in Colorado. The legal standards for mining disability conflict with evidence seen in Colorado coal miners. "…at the time we did the studies not a single coal miner in the history of Colorado had ever been compensated for pneumoconiosis." Colorado miners usually had no chronic bronchitis and could ventilate well. Dr. Phelps evaluated patients on the basis of a disability table for patients with pulmonary fibrosis. He describes the treadmill test and measure of minute ventilation. The test is contraindicated for patients with chest pain, an abnormal electrocardiogram, or other cardiac risk factors. The ventilatory test does not apply to non-smoking individuals in the Mountain West, who are hyperventilating already. And X-rays alone will not accurately diagnose affected coal miners in the Mountain West. Miners with silicosis do not tend to become progressively worse if they leave the mines. They may have a normal life span but cannot work the last 20-30 years of their lives. The original Federal laws focused on relief to Appalachian miners but ignored the needs of those in the Mountain West. The black lung program was underfunded and based on a low estimate of the number of coal miners involved. Inaccurate testing and arbitrary standards for disability pitted former miners against each other. The process further divides patients from their doctors, who are seen as agents of the regulatory regime. (The questions for physicians were lifted verbatim from the British Medical Research Council chronic bronchitis questionnaire.) It may have been fairer to make a blanket, modest award to all coal miners, rather than to force individuals into an adversarial claim system. Insufficient research has been done on the effects of mining at high altitudes. In compensation cases, arterial blood gases were not evaluated until after 1968. Bureaucrats in Baltimore and in Trinidad, Colorado have been indifferent or even hostile to the coal miners. The miners did not ask for the compensation plan, and it too often disappoints and embitters them. Several miners are examined by Dr. Phelps: Mr. Guterrez [sp? Gutierrez?] worked 21 years, quitting in 1960 when the Valdez mine closed. In 1970, he applied under Federal black lung law: a long time after traveling to various sites for tests and exams, his claim was denied and he was forced to take even more tests and exams. After denial of a claim, a patient can file an appeal with Social Security to examine his records; to hire a lawyer will drain the patient of even more resources. Joaquin Trujillo, from Trinidad, applied for Federal benefits in 1970 after working 24 years in the mines, including the Valdez. Another miner, 55-years old, worked 25 years in 5 coal mines, quit working in 1959. On a treadmill exercise test, his disability becomes evident. "…a drop in P02 on exercise is probably the earliest sign that this individual is beginning to have difficulty." Albert Noga, of Walsenburg, was a miner for at least 25 years. Many miners have no proof of additional work, in smaller mines: Albert may have worked 34 years in total. Another miner is still waiting for a decision on his black lung claim, 5 years after filing it. Dr. Phelps describes Congressional hearings including Sen. Gary Hart, at which he hopes to testify. Another miner relates 30 years of work in the mines, including roof bolting (which is especially dangerous because they're drilling hard rock). " they're actually developing hard rock silicosis by the miner grinding hard rock."

summary

University of Colorado Boulder Archives

Guterrez, Mr.

Noga, Albert

Phelps, Harvey W., M.D.

Trujillo, Joaquin

[1970s]

Text

application/pdf

narv_coloradoCoal_transPhelps.pdf

https://ark.colorado.edu/ark:/47540/zw8j4113c344

English