Court upholds finding that Montana clinic submitted false asbestos claims
A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court determination that a Montana health clinic submitted more than 300 false asbestos claims
BILLINGS, Mont. — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court determination that a Montana health clinic submitted hundreds of false asbestos claims on behalf of patients.
A jury decided last year that the clinic in a town where hundreds of people have died from asbestos exposure submitted more than 300 false asbestos claims that made patients eligible for Medicare and other benefits they shouldn’t have received.
The Center for Asbestos Related Disease (CARD) in Libby, Montana, had asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse last year's ruling. The clinic's attorney argued its actions were deemed acceptable by federal officials and that the judge in the case issued erroneous jury instructions.
But a three-judge panel said in a decision issued late Tuesday that the clinic couldn't blame federal officials for its failure to follow the law. The panel also said that Judge Dana Christensen's jury instructions were appropriate.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently awarded the clinic a new five-year asbestos health screening grant, CARD said in a Wednesday statement from executive director Tracy McNew. The appeals court ruling will not affect its daily operations, she said.
“We want to reassure our patients and the community that not a single person lost Medicare benefits as a result of the trial. Our diagnoses are sound, and we stand behind the care we provide,” McNew wrote. “CARD is financially stable and is continuing its mission.”
The clinic has received more than $20 million in federal funding and certified more than 3,400 people with
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