Superfund city’s well being clinic accused of submitting false asbestos claims

MISSOULA, Mont. — A significant U.S. railroad discovered responsible for spreading hazardous asbestos that killed tons of of individuals in a Montana city is making an attempt to persuade a federal jury {that a} native clinic submitted tons of of asbestos claims for individuals who weren’t sick, incomes them lifetime authorities advantages and bilking taxpayer funds.

The case focuses on the Center For Asbestos Related Disease in Libby, Montana, and the well being clinic’s high-profile physician, Brad Black, who has been on the forefront of efforts to assist residents of the city, which got here to nationwide prominence when it was declared a lethal Superfund web site in 2000.

Since 2003, Black and the CARD clinic have licensed greater than 3,400 folks, primarily from the Libby space, with asbestos-related illnesses.

BNSF Railway – managed by billionaire Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate – has alleged throughout a trial happening in Missoula that greater than half the certifications have been primarily based on false medical submissions from CARD. The railway shipped asbestos-tainted vermiculite by way of Libby.

Closing arguments within the case have been scheduled for Wednesday.

CARD and its attorneys deny the claims, arguing the clinic made its diagnoses in keeping with necessities of the 2009 Affordable Care Act, which included particular provisions for the Libby victims.

Asbestos-related illnesses can vary from a thickening of an individual’s lung cavity, hampering respiratory, to lethal most cancers. Under the well being legislation, victims of asbestos publicity within the Libby space are eligible for taxpayer-funded providers together with Medicare, housekeeping, journey to medical appointments, and incapacity advantages for individuals who can’t work.

Former Democratic U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, of Montana, authored the Libby provision within the well being legislation. He stated in depositions with attorneys that the clinic’s observe of diagnosing some sufferers with out ready for secondary affirmation, resembling X-ray outcomes, was authentic.

However, Judge Dana Christensen barred Baucus’s statements from being launched, saying it was the court docket’s position to determine whether or not the legislation had been adopted.

BNSF sued the clinic in 2019 below the False Claims Act, which permits personal events to sue on the federal government’s behalf. It was stored sealed below a court docket order for 2 years till the U.S. legal professional’s workplace of Montana declined prosecute the fraud claims. Officials haven’t given a purpose.

The end result may have main implications for the clinic, which may face penalties of $5,000 or extra for every occasion of fraud that’s verified. A victory by BNSF additionally may assist it fend off lawsuits from Libby residents searching for damages for the railway’s mishandling asbestos-tainted vermiculite from a close-by mine.

At least 400 folks have been killed by asbestos-related illness within the Libby space, in keeping with well being officers. Because of the lengthy latency interval for these illnesses, signs can take a long time to develop.

The tainted vermiculite got here from a mine owned by the Maryland-based chemical firm W.R. Grace. It polluted the Libby space over a long time, together with at a BNSF railway yard within the coronary heart of the city of about 3,000 folks.

Cleanup work started in 2000 after media stories of widespread well being issues led to Libby’s designation as a federal Superfund program contaminated web site. In 2009, the EPA declared a public well being emergency for the city.

Scientists say publicity to even a minuscule quantity of asbestos could cause lung issues. Vermiculite from Libby was used as building materials on the town, and it was shipped throughout the nation as insulating materials utilized in hundreds of thousands of houses.

A 2020 Montana Supreme Court ruling stated BNSF must be held responsible for its position within the contamination, however didn’t specify how.

Other lawsuits towards corporations and officers over the contamination in Libby have resulted in massive settlements for victims.