Now Harron is finding himself under intense scrutiny and a possible grand jury indictment for diagnosing workers with workplace-related diseases they may not have.

For about 10 months, the legal community has been abuzz after it was determined that thousands of people who received settlement money for asbestos exposure were using the same X-rays to show they had been exposed to another harmful pollutant -- silica.

Both pollutants cause deadly lung diseases. But people typically don't get both diseases.

Dr. Laura Welch of Silver Spring, Md., testified before Congress in March that she had never seen a person suffering from both illnesses.

Harron was one of the doctors named in the X-ray scandal. According to court reports and newspaper stories, he was the doctor who diagnosed both diseases in thousands of patients. He was called to testify before Congress, but he refused to answer on the grounds of self-incrimination, according to news reports.

His work in asbestos litigation also garnered the attention of federal prosecutors looking into asbestos claims. Prosecutors served subpoenas on firms that did business with the doctor.

In November, a New York Times article painted an unflattering picture of Harron, who is now retired. The article said Harron made more than 75,000 lung injury diagnoses since the mid-1990s. The article said he commonly read as many as 150 X-rays a day.

The article continued by saying Harron received $125 per X-ray. If those amounts are true, Harron made millions in just a few years.

Harron also has been named as the doctor who reviewed lung X-rays for a Pittsburgh law firm, Peirce, Raimond & Coulter. CSX Transportation Inc. sued that law firm in federal court in Wheeling after it learned the firm represented two CSX employees who devised a plan to defraud the railroad company. According to CSX's lawsuit, an employee who had been diagnosed with asbestosis agreed to appear at an X-ray screening for another employee who did not show signs of the illness.

Harron did not return phone calls and did not respond to a written set of questions The State Journal mailed to his post office box in Bridgeport. A woman who answered Harron's phone last week said he had received the letter. The questions included:

• Have you ever heard of instances where one person poses for another person's X-ray? Is it something that could occur, or are there safeguards in place to prevent that from happening?
• How much contact do you have with the Peirce firm? Are you under contract with them? If so, how long has the contract existed?
• Are you paid per X-ray reading you do? Is your pay based on whether you find indications of disease or exposure in the X-ray?
• Do medical histories accompany the X-rays you receive?
• How much of your business is made up of doing screenings for asbestos exposure, silicosis and other work-related ailments?

Steve Cohen, executive director of West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, said Harron's diagnoses are now notorious.

He said the CSX lawsuit just raises another red flag about very serious problems within the world of asbestos and silicosis litigation.

"The complaint raises another example of greed, fraud, in lawsuits," he said. "Here in West Virginia a radiologist was paid nearly $10 million by personal injury lawyers to allegedly doctor X-rays of potential asbestos victims."

Harron's reputation earned him a mock Academy Award for "science fiction" in March from Cohen's non-profit group.

"Junk lawsuits and bad actors like Ray Harron who are willing to trade the truth for money are only hurting those who are truly sick and deserving of compensation," Cohen said at the time. "Juries must have accurate information from reliable experts if justice is to be served."