…His lawyer and close friend Michael J. Shaheen said the cause was complications of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a stiffening of lung tissues that required Mr. Murray to breathe with the help of a portable oxygen tank. He had lived with the condition for years.
The word “pulmonary” means lung and the word “fibrosis” means scar tissue— similar to scars that you may have on your skin from an old injury or surgery. So, in its simplest sense, pulmonary fibrosis (PF) means scarring in the lungs. Over time, the scar tissue can destroy the normal lung and make it hard for oxygen to get into your blood.
[Image transcript: a table with two columns headed “TYPE OF PULMONARY FIBROSIS” and “CLUES THAT DOCTORS USE”. In the last row the cells read, “Idiopathic” and “When no cause can be identitied.”]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Former coal CEO Robert E. Murray, who has fought federal regulations on the industry, has filed an application with the U.S. Department of Labor for black lung benefits, according to a published report.
…
Murray has fought federal mine safety regulations for years. His company filed an unsuccessful lawsuit in 2014 over regulations to cut the amount of coal dust in coal mines to reduce the incidence of black lung disease, saying they were overly burdensome and costly to the industry.
In the black lung claim, Murray, 80, says he is heavily dependent on oxygen and is “near death.”
…
Murray says in the claim that he worked underground while supervising operations for several years.
“During my 63 years working in underground coal mines, I worked 16 years every day at the mining face underground and went underground every week until I was age 75,” Murray wrote.
Murray declined to speak on the record with the news outlets, but said he has black lung from working in underground mines and is entitled to benefits. He also disputed that he fought regulations to stop black lung and threatened to file a lawsuit if a story was published indicating he fought federal regulations and benefits, the outlets said.
In a 2017 interview with The Associated Press, Murray, using an oxygen machine, insisted his lung issues weren’t coal related but were due to “idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.”
“It’s not from the mining. It’s a different disease,” he said.
Murray told NPR last year that his lung disease was not caused by working in underground mines.
“It’s idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. IPF, and it is not related to my work in the industry. They’ve checked for that,” Murray told NPR. “And it’s not — has anything to do with working in the coal mines, which I did for 17 years underground every day. And until I was 76, I went underground twice a week.”
Cough in hell, Bob.
I would contend at all costs both in word and deed as far as I could that we will be better men, braver and less idle, if we believe that one must search for the things one does not know, rather than if we believe that it is not possible to find out what we do not know and that we must not look for it.
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