A reward for representation
Lynda Glagola, program director for Lungs at Work, a nonprofit federal black lung clinic in McMurray, shows a graphic depicting lung function in her office.
A breathing chamber used to test patients for black lung disease at the Lungs at Work clinic in McMurray
McMURRAY — Over the past decade, Lynda Glagola has helped hundreds of coal miners successfully file black lung disability claims from a small clinic in Waterdam Plaza. The disease, a crippling condition caused by exposure to coal dust, slowly robs affected miners of their ability to breathe.
It was an opportunity 14 years ago that caused Glagola to form a nonprofit clinic dedicated to helping miners with black lung disease. Several years later, she began assisting them with filing claims to receive black lung disability benefits, working closely with the United Mine Workers of America and the U.S. Department of Labor to provide miners with support services.
Her work at Lungs at Work clinic, which sees between 300 and 400 miners a year, was recognized in September when she received the prestigious Mike South Award for her commitment, performance and success in helping the region’s miners receive the benefits, medical treatment and support they need when living with a black lung diagnosis.
The national award was created in 1999 to honor Walter “Mike” South, a former president of the National Black Lung Association who “worked tirelessly on behalf of miners and victims of occupational lung disease.”
The award is given annually by the National Coalition of Black Lung and Respiratory Diseases Clinics, in cooperation with the UMWA and the National Black Lung Association. The winner is selected by a vote of representatives from each of the organizations. Recipients are chosen based on contributions to the field of black lung disease and dedication to helping coal miners file, win and defend federal black lung claims.
A respiratory therapist, Glagola worked for 22 years at Canonsburg General Hospital where as a supervisor, part of her job was managing the hospital’s black lung clinic. It was in that role where she got to know the miners.
“I’m the daughter of farmers from Ohio; I have no coal miners in my family at all,” said Glagola, 60, of Washington. “I just found that I loved working with these people. I left a 22 year career and went out on a limb and here we are 14 years later,” she said.
The “limb” she went out on was a result of a change in the way black lung clinics received funding. For years, the federal government sent money to Harrisburg, which in turn sent it to the clinics across the state. But it was a system that made it difficult to use the money, she said. “And every year, most of it, the state sent back to the feds – unused.”
“The feds decided to stop giving money to the state,” she said. “So they asked the people who were actually doing the work if they would apply for the federal grants, so the miners could continue to be served.”
Glagola wrote a funding application, which was approved and Lungs At Work was born in 2002.
When she formed the nonprofit, she said, she was thinking of it as a medical clinic, but a physician she knew from Southwestern Virginia’s coal region, who ultimately became her mentor, guided her toward helping patients who wanted to file claims for disability benefits.
“He said to me, ‘If you start offering these services, people will start coming to you, because they have nowhere to go.”
Since 2006, Glagola has been a lay representative for miners’ black lung claims, assisting them each step of the way and arguing their cases before administrative law judges. Her staff of three includes a respiratory therapist and two social workers.
“We send letters, we do everything,” she said, explaining that the process of receiving those benefits can be long and arduous, as she and her clients appear before an administrative law judge and attorneys representing the coal company for whom the claimant is or was employed.
The clinic provides free of charge diagnostic services and medical care, and is authorized to provide Department of Labor examinations in preparation for federal black lung claims. It also offers education and treatment to those with chronic lung disease to help improve their quality of life, and support services and lay advocacy assistance is available to miners who wish to apply for federal black lung benefits.
But the pursuit of those benefits comes with a caveat.
“We’re blatantly honest with people because there are a lot of misconceptions about this disease. People have been told they’re entitled and they’re not entitled. A black lung settlement is a disability claim, not a compensation,” she said.
“If a claimant wins their case, married miners receive $966.80 per month, as well as a medical card that covers all expenses related to their black lung treatment, from inhalers and oxygen to hospitalization.”
Since opening the claims service, Glagola said the clinic has been “extremely successful,” but part of that success comes from culling out the cases can’t be won.
“A lot of people come through here for testing, but if we know after testing that there’s no way they’re going to qualify, we withdraw those cases. We are very successful, but we aren’t going to give people false hope. We’re not going to clog up the system with cases that positively cannot be won.”
Some of the people Glagola and her staff see may have been diagnosed with black lung, but others have not, she said, “because coal miners typically don’t go to the doctor. Until this downturn in the coal industry, if you were working, you were working a ton of hours,” she said, adding that “there’s a lot of fear” that the employer would discover that they received a medical exam for black lung.
But the reason Glagola sees so many miners seeking help with claims is that there are only 20 black lung clinics in the entire U.S., and out of those, she said, hers is only one of two clinics that offer lay representation services.
“Lawyers don’t want these cases. You can settle federal black lung claims, but they can take up to a decade to settle, and there’s no payment until they’re done.”
Of the 75 to 80 cases that the clinic has taken to court in the last five years, Glagola said, only two claims have been denied. She said the claims she’s won since 2006 have added up to “millions and millions” of dollars” for her claimants.
Although Glagola is not an attorney, she said her training as a respiratory therapist is a major asset. “I understand the medical aspect way better than the attorneys understand it,” she said.
But she acknowledged the defense of the claimant “is intimidating. You go up against very well-paid, high-powered attorneys from the coal company and against depositions from their medical experts. “It’s not a job for the faint of heart, for sure.”
But doing the job for so long and winning most of the time, Glagola said, attorneys have developed “a grudging respect” for her.
While Glagola began doing black lung work in 1999, and South died in 2001, she met him on several occasions.
“I don’t have the struggles that he had, but people like him inspired me to delve into this and become the best person I could be for my miners. I’m pretty meticulous about how things are done, because in medicine or law, sometimes there are no second chances if you don’t get it right the first time. I’m very very fortunate that a lot of people have intersected my life who have taught me things.”
I can’t think of a better recognition you can get.”