And the whole wide world is whistling hey ho on the road again on the highway on the highway cause its your heart its alive its pumpin blood and its your heart its alive its pumpin blood and the whole wide world is whistling and its whistling and its whistling and its whistling tonight on nightline beautiful lie. We go inside the world of Lance Armstrong and the shocking lie that changed everything. I didnt live a lot of lies, i lived one big one. Tonight deconstructing his deceit like never before and we are going for the ride. Costly call. Big hospital. Big businesses. And millions of dollars at stake. Tonight brian ross questions doctors who may be costing hundreds the money they say they deserve. Nightline investigates. If you are thinking about losing weight for the holiday photo you send to all of your friends. Consider a photo shop pro instead, its free. Announcer keep it right here, america, nightline is [ male announcer ] it is more than just a new car. More than a new interior lighting system. It is more than a hot stone massage. And more than your favorite scent infused into the cabin. It is a completely new era of innovation. And the highest expression of mercedesbenz. Introducing the 2014 sclass. The best or nothing. Good evening. It was a beautiful lie. And the liar was one of the most celebrated sports figures in the world. Lance armstrong reached pinnacle of athletic achievement winning the Tour De France year after year even after a battle with cancer. But when the lie unraveled so did life as he knew it. Now the former American Hero explains how it took over and spiraled out of control. Here is abcs neil karlinsky. Reporter inside one of the most challenging sporting events on earth with access no outsider has had to Lance Armstrong at the time considered seven time winner of the Tour De France. But what Academy Award winning filmmaker and his studio didnt know, despite a year inside Lance Armstrongs normally private bubble, was that it was all a lie and they too were being played. A lot of people wonder why would lance talk to you . I think that particularly at the beginning there was a sense of invulnerability. The sense that nobody is ever going to discover my lie. Come along for the ride. Reporter the ride ended up traversing armstrongs epic collapse leaving the producer with moments he never imagined capturing. I was certainly con fi didnt i would never be caught. Reporter armstrong explaining how it all began. His decision to cheat by using performance enhancing drugs. There was a group of us, primarily living in italy. We just said we have to play ball here or go home. Reporter were you pissed off you had to do it or you had to do what you had how to do to be able to compete . The latter. Yeah, maybe maybe i i would approach the decision differently today. At the time i didnt lose sleep over it. Reporter a slice of the new film the armstrong lie which die sects what has been called the biggest fraud in all of sport and explores how a lie became so allconsuming, armstrong would do almost anything to protect tip. I have never doped. I have never taken performance enhancing drugs. I have never tested positive. Reporter how do you rate lance as a liar or coverup artist. He is at the tippy top. He is one of the very best. Reporter the armstrong lie is a film he never intended to make. He was directing a feel good story about armstrongs 2009 comeback. They finished it complete with narration by matt damon, but before they could release it, tonight on nightline. Did lance cheat . Nightline ran a tellall with former teammate floyd landis who dropped a bomb. Did you see Lance Armstrong receiving transfusions . Yes. Reporter more than once . Yes, multiple times. Look atsome people have to tell their kids santa claus isnt real. I hate to be the guy to do it, but its just not real. Reporter they put the film on the shelf and reshot a completely different story. It was lances abuse of power that is really the more reprehensible thing. Part of it was the way he went after people. Part of it was the way he wrapped himself in the mantel of the cancer survivor. He first confessed to oprah. Deid you ever blood dope or use blood transfusions to enhance your cycling performance . Yes. In all seven of your Tour De France victories, did you ever take banned substances or blood dope . Yes. Reporter armstrong talked to gibney hours later. Living a lie. I didnt live a lot of lies. But i lived one big one. You know thats different. I guess. Maybe its not. For some reason when he went on oprah, it dropped like a thud. What do you think went wrong there . Part of the problem was lance isnt used to coming clean. I think you saw that discomfort on oprah. And i think he himself realizes what a complete disaster it was. Photos from behind the scenes with him show a fallen champion who has lost some of his swagger. Still, armstrong trusted gibney from their earlier time together and for the first time agreed to explain some of his secrets including how he got away with using the blood booster epo. The life of epo is four hours. So, you need to back it out from there and figure out, you know when you are in trouble. He passed every test because he does not take epo. Yes, he will. My defense was that i have passed every control you have given me. Thats true. The samples that were given were clean. Reporter lances great tragedy was he couldnt see the difference. He couldnt see the borderline between where the sport ended and where real life began. Much of armstrongs life today centers around trying to keep what he has left. Three major lawsuits including a fraud case brought by the u. S. Department of justice seek to strip him of more than 100 million. Do you talk to him anymore . The last time i communicated with lance when i let him know the film was going to be called the armstrong lie. Reporter how did that go over . Not so well. Reporter itch his reputation stands a chance at any redemption it will likely take a while. People dont like that truth as much as they like the beautiful lie. Thats a hard thing for lance to accept. Because he found much more affection in telling the beautiful lie than the ugly truth. Our thanks to neil karlinsky, who followed every twist and turn of the story. The armstrong lie opens in select cities november 8th. Coming up next, brian ross confronts doctors who may be costing hundreds of coal miners the benefits they say they deserve. Announcer abc news nightline brought to you by mercedesbenz. Assage. And more than your favorite scent infused into the cabin. It is a completely new era of innovation. And the highest expression of mercedesbenz. Introducing the 2014 sclass. The best or nothing. Introducing the 2014 sclass. Help the gulf when we made recover and learn the gulf, bp from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. I can tell you safety is at the heart of everything we do. Weve added cuttingedge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a stateoftheart monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twentyfourseven. And were sharing what weve learned, so we can all produce energy more safely. Our commitment has never been stronger. Have hail damage to both their cars. Ted ted is trying to get a hold of his insurance agent. Maxwell is not. Hes on geico. Com setting up an appointment with an adjuster. Ted is now on hold with his insurance company. Maxwell is not and just confirmed a 5 30 time for tuesday. Ted, is still waiting. Yes maxwell is out and about. With teds now exgirlfriend. Wheeeee whoo later ted online claims appointments. Just a click away on geico. Com. This is the creamy chicken corn chowder. I mean, look at it. So indulgent. Did i tell you i am on the. [ both ] Chicken Pot Pie diet me too [ male announcer ] so indulgent, youll never believe theyre light. 100calorie progresso light soups. [ female announcer ] at 100 calories, not all food choices add up. Some are giant. Some not so giant. When managing your weight, bigger is always better. Ho ho ho green giant i want you to be kind. Ff i want you to be smart. Super smart. I want one thing in a doctor. I want you to be handsome. I want you to be awesome. I dont want you to look at the chart before you say hi. David. I want you to return my emails. I want you to keep me doing this for another sixty years. At kaiser permanente, we want you to choose the doctor thats right for you. Find your Perfect Match at kp. Org and thrive. What do big hospitals and Big Mining Companies have in common . In coal country hundred of miners who say their suffering from lung disease say theyre not getting the Financial Support theyre owed. And a year long abc news investigation shows some of the Coal Companies most important allies in fighting the miners are prominent doctors from a world renowned hospital. Abcs brian ross for nightline investigates. He has had more hard luck than most men could stand reporter after years of working in americas coal mines, where hard lives are honored in soulful ballads. It took gary foxs death to finally prove what coal Company Doctors tried to deny about him. That as the his autopsy showed, fox did have the deadly debilitating disease called black lung the result of breathing in coal dust that shrinks and scars the lungs. When you put a needle into a lung in one of these miners, what comes back out of the needle is black liquid. Its its like something out of the x files. Reporter a story that begins in coal country with miners out of breath and out of luck. But ended up taking us to one of the nations top hospitals with tough questions about big money and black lung. Gary fox died at the age of 58. Denied for ten years the 700 to 900 a month he would have been due under a special program for miners. Had the coal Company Doctors, this one and this one found he had disabling black lung. But they did not. I have no comment. Reporter and gary fox is one of hundred of coal miners, men like mack lester. Men like steve day. Some of the hundred of miners who a yearlong joint investigation by abc news and the center for Public Integrity found have been quietly battling and losing against big Coal Companies and their prominent expensive doctors. A total national disgrace. The deck is stacked in theory and practice against coal miners, men and women and it is tragic. Reporter black lung remains the scourge of coal country. Yet big Coal Companies have been able to avoid paying millions of dollars in black lung benefits to ailing miners thanks largely to their doctors says West Virginia senator jay rockefeller. You can hardly do anything but cry with rage, with sadness. Reporter in the case of the late gary fox one of the first doctors the coal company asked to review his record, a long specialist from pittsburgh, who stand out in appalachia in his red porsche. Several judges described him as hostile to the black lung program and biased in his findings. The doctors finding on gary fox, black lung not present. Doctor, good morning. I am brian ross from abc news. Been trying to get ahold of you to ask about your work with coal miners for the Coal Companies. I have no comment. Reporter when we caught up with the doctor, he told us he is not by yaiases and find blac lung 12 of the time meaning most of the time he does not. He refused to look at the autopsy report of gary fox that found black lung. This involves gary fox. Yun take can you take a look at it . The most important ally to whom they have paid millions of dollars over the years is prestigious john hopkins hospital in baltimore. And in particular, the longtime head of the black lung unit at hopkins, dr. Paul wheeler who says it only takes him a quick look at x rays to spot most severe cases of black lung that automatically qualify for benefits. You can tellen ein a second or. How you tell your father different from your mother. Reporter for his work, the Coal Companies pay hopkins 750 for each x ray he reads for black lung. About ten times the amount miners typically pay their doctors. Why are they paying you so much more . I think it has the to do with the name of the hospital. Reporter youve dont mind being the coal companys doctor. I can be myself, a dak tooctr a number of company not just coal. Reporter for the Coal Companies, money well spent. By no means does every miner who applies for benefits necessarily have black lung. Of available record from the last 13 years, examined by abc news and the center for Public Integrity, we found of 1,573 cases, dr. Wheeler never found a single case of severe black lung in any coal miner not one. Dr. Wheeler ak nolcknowledged o findings. Reporter you stand by the cases . Absolutely. Thats my opinion. A perfect right to my opinion. Reporter you have become dr. No. You never find. I do find black lung. Reporter not according to what we have seen. Not severe black lung that allows miners to collect benefits. Hopkins says their doctors have confirmed thousand of cases compatible with black lung over the last 40 years but would not say how many were severe black lung. In court testimony, last year, dr. Wheeler said that last time he recalled diagnosing a case of severe black lung was in the 1970s or early 80s. Your reports and your testimony has led hundred of thousands of miners to be denied benefits that they think they deserve. I have no idea what happens when the x rays leave my department. Does it matter to you . It would matter to me that i am wrong. No one has proven i am wrong. Reporter our investigation found,000 thee h he has been wr on cases of miners where awe top sees found black lung after dr. Wheel heard not. He read their xrays as negative. What do you say . The doctor should not be working at Hopkins University or anywhere else. I am very clels ose to hopkins. My wife is on the health part of the board of hopkins. And i think it is a disgrace. I am shocked to hear that. Reporter hopkins itself receives the money directly paid by the Coal Companies. In a written staement tement, j hopkins defendants dr. Wheeler and says to our knowledge, no Regulatory Authority has challenged or questioned diagnos diagnoses, conclusions or reports from the black lung program. Black lung black lung but dr. Wheelers findings are disrupting lives all across coal country. Steve day says he has been told he has a few more months to live. Diagnosed with black lung by Veterans Administration and his own doctors. He cant be far from oxygen tanks and cannot sleep lying down. When he coughs, the black will still come up. And then tell me he dont have black lung . It would take a fool to believe it. Reporter yet in 2005, the coal company appealed and dr. Wheeler at hopkins said days xrays did not show the disabling form of black lung. The company won. And days 1,000 a month benefit was canceled. Well, at the time, if i had my hand around his neck i would have squeezed it. Reporter you think he is doing the work of the Coal Companies. Yeah. A company doctor. Reporter we sent the exrays of to jack parker at West Virginia university. He once oversaw the governments xray Screening Program for black lung. This is a classic case of black lung. Any doubt in your mind . No doubt whatsoever. This represents advanced black lung disease. Dr. Wheeler found the x rays were tb or a fungal infection. So unlikely. The chance of other diseases is 0. Reporter 0 chance. 0 chance. Reporter for some body to make that diagnosis does that surprise you . It does surprise me. More, it disappoints me. Reporter would you say that diagnosis other than black lung was intellectually dishonest . Yes. Reporter intellectually dishonest . Yes, sir. Dr. Wheeler says he is protecting the system from keeping miners from collecting black lung benefits from a disease they did not or do not have. That would seem to be inappropriate to me. Theyre getting paid for something they dent deserve. That they dont have. Reporter for miner steve day, he worries he will be out of breath before he can prove his case. And the suggestion that he and his family are somehow trying to cheat is just one final insult from a system that he says has left them feeling betrayed. My kids were cheated. My grandchild is cheated. Hes cheated. And its unfair. And if he doesnt have black lung, black lung never did exist for any body. And everyone with black lung done turn him away for nightline, brian ross, abc news, in glen fork, West Virginia. And our thanks to brian ross for that comprehensive and eyeopening report. Well switch gears now, though, coming up next for us this high tech toddler gets suited up in a costume designed by his dad. The halloween high just begun. Headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. To avoid longterm injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. Stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. [ cellphone beeps ] this is the age of taking action. Viagra. Talk to your doctor. [ male announcer ] maybe youve already heard what theyre saying about the nissan altima. And we have to admit, that its all true. But dont just take their word for it, check it out for yourself. The awardwinning nissan altima. Nissan. Innovation that excites. Now get a 179 per month lease on a 2013 nissan altima. Well take something tasty and healthy. If you wanna go and fly with me its buzz the bee on your tv oh how did i get this way . Hey must be the honey theres a party going on in your cereal bowl os can help lower cholesterol oh why does it taste so great . Hey must be the honey hey must be the honey hey must be the honey delicious, but say i press a few out flat, add some beef, sloppy joe sauce and cheese, fold it all up and boom delicious unsloppy joes perfect for a school night. Pillsbury grands biscuits. Make dinner pop. So i should probably get the last roll. Yeah but i practiced my bassoon. [ mom ] and i listened. [ brother ] i can do this. [ imitates robot ] everyone deserves ooey, gooey, pillsbury cinnamon rolls. Make the weekend pop. Tonight on feed frenzy. Halloween costume mania. Fooled by photo shop. The air brushed fixes reveal in this video prove yet again seeing isnt always believing. Especially on halloween. When the tricks are the treat. Check out these created by former nasa engineer, mark robert, he designed an app to solve your costume problems, moving eyeballs, beating hearts, and grabable guts. Bleh. And he found a way to make your house or car look around. You may have seen this neon