Everette Phillips v. F. David Mathews, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare

Under 20 C.F.R. § 410.414(b), promulgated by the Secretary pursuant to statutory authority, a coal miner who demonstrates the existence of a totally disabling chronic respiratory or pulmonary impairment and who has worked 15 years or longer in the coal mines will be presumed, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, to be totally disabled due to pneumoconiosis and to be entitled to special benefits under the Act. In a carefully considered opinion, the district judge discerned ample evidence demonstrating the existence of a chronic respiratory or pulmonary impairment which was so severe as…