United States Tenth Circuit

Because a claimant suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) must prove his COPD arose out of coal-mine employment to prove he suffers from legal pneumoconiosis, a statutory rebuttable presumption on causation of pneumoconiosis established by the Black Lung Benefits Act and its implementing regulations does not extend to cases of COPD.

Appellate Information

• Decided 07/26/2006
• Published 07/26/2006

Judges

• BALDOCK, Circuit Judge., Before BRISCOE, BALDOCK, and TYMKOVICH, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Tenth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Stephen D. Harris of Merrill, Anderson, King & Harris, LLC, Colorado Springs, CO, for Petitioner., W.C. Blanton of Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin, LLP, Kansas City, MO, for Intervenors.


• For Appellees:
  
• Barry H. Joyner, United States Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor (Howard M. Radzely, Solicitor of Labor;  Allen H. Feldman, Assistant Solicitor;  Christian P. Barber, Counsel for Appellate Litigation, with him on the brief), for Respondent.