MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A health clinic in a Montana town plagued by deadly asbestos contamination faces millions of dollars in penalties — and potential bankruptcy — after a jury found it submitted more than 300 false asbestos claims to the U.S. government, making patients eligible for Medicare and other benefits they shouldn't have received.
The federally funded Center for Asbestos Related Disease clinic has been at the forefront of the medical response to deadly pollution from mining near Libby, Montana.
The town of about 3,000 people along the scenic Kootenai River gained national notoriety when it was declared a Superfund site two decades ago, following media reports that workers and their families were getting sick and dying due to dust from a W.R. Grace mine.
A seven-person jury said Wednesday night that the clinic's false claims caused more than $1 million in damages to the federal government. Under federal law, the clinic is liable for three times the damages — or about $3.2 million — and millions of dollars more in potential penalties.
The verdict also could undermine lawsuits from asbestos victims against BNSF Railway and other entities that courts have held liable for contamination that's turned Libby into one of the nation’s deadliest polluted sites. Health officials have said at least 400 people have been killed and thousands sickened from asbestos exposure in the Libby area.
The trial against the Libby clinic followed a civil lawsuit filed by BNSF in 2019...
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