Black lung surges back in coal country | iWatch News by The Center for Public Integrity

Black lung surges back in coal country | iWatch News by The Center for Public Integrity:

'via Blog this'The disease leaves miners’ lungs scarred, shriveled and black. They struggle to do routine tasks and are eventually forced to choose between eating and breathing.

“No human being should have to go through the misery that dying of [black lung] entails,” said Dr. Edward Petsonk, who treats patients with black lung and works with NIOSH. “It is like a screw being slowly tightened across your throat.  Day and night towards the end, the miner struggles to get enough oxygen. It is really almost a diabolical torture.”