You're correct. In fact, it seems odd to me that a doctor would have diagnosed IPF in someone who had worked in coal mines for that long. As far as I know, the

You're correct. In fact, it seems odd to me that a doctor would have diagnosed IPF in someone who had worked in coal mines for that long. As far as I know, the symptoms of black lung are basically indistinguishable from IPF. I'm not a doctor, but my father died of IPF, and his father died from black lung (steel industry, not coal, but they have the same risks).