W.Va. Appellate Court Affirms Denial of Asbestosis Benefits in Lung Cancer Workers’ Comp Case

CHARLESTON, W.Va. –– A West Virginia appellate court has affirmed the denial of benefits to a former worker who claimed that his lung cancer was caused by asbestos exposure, concluding instead that the illness was a result of his 36-year smoking history.

In the May 7 decision, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals affirmed the denial of benefits, finding no “misstatement or mischaracterization of the evidentiary record.”

Williams Boyce filed a claim for workers’ compensation benefits, contending that he had developed occupational pneumoconiosis and lung cancer as a result of his employment. Several physicians testified, however, that Boyce’s lung …