A major railroad company is trying to convince a federal jury that a Montana clinic submitted hundreds of asbestos claims for people who weren’t sick and bilked taxpayer funds
MISSOULA, Mont. -- A major U.S. railroad found liable for spreading hazardous asbestos that killed hundreds of people in a Montana town tried to convince a federal jury during closing arguments Wednesday that a local clinic submitted more than 1,000 asbestos claims for people who weren’t sick, earning them government benefits and bilking taxpayer funds.
The case focuses on the Center For Asbestos Related Disease in Libby, Montana, and the health clinic's high-profile doctor, Brad Black, who has been at the forefront of efforts to help residents of the town, which came to national prominence when it was declared a deadly Superfund site in 2000.
Since 2003, Black and the CARD clinic have certified more than 3,400 people, primarily from the Libby area, with asbestos-related diseases, according to court documents.
BNSF Railway — controlled by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate — alleged during a trial in Missoula that more than half the certifications were based on false medical submissions from CARD. The railway shipped asbestos-tainted vermiculite through Libby.
CARD and its attorneys deny the claims, arguing the clinic made its diagnoses in line with requirements of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which included special provisions for the Libby victims.
“CARD was doing exactly...
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