Federal Black Lung benefits denied.

We were successful in obtaining a decision denying a widow’s claim for Federal Black Lung benefits. The deceased miner worked in underground coal mining for 11 years. His lifetime claim for benefits was denied after numerous claim filings and appeals. The widow then sought survivor’s benefits based upon the opinion of her medical expert, who opined that the miner’s death was hastened by coal workers’ pneumoconiosis. The judge rejected the widow’s expert in favor of our expert, who testified the miner’s death was not caused or hastened by pneumoconiosis. The widow requested reconsideration and attempted to submit additional evidence (an additional medical report and 12 medical journal articles) that she had not submitted during the litigation of the claim. The judge again rejected the claim on reconsideration.