Federal Court Upholds Ruling Against Montana Clinic for False Asbestos Claims

The Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby must face consequences for submitting over 300 fraudulent claims, despite recent grant renewal.

A federal appeals court upheld a decision that the Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby, Montana, submitted more than 300 false asbestos claims.
The clinic's actions made patients eligible for Medicare and other benefits they were not entitled to receive.
The clinic argued that its actions were approved by federal officials, but the court rejected this defense.
Despite the ruling, the clinic will not have to pay nearly $6 million in penalties due to a bankruptcy settlement with BNSF Railway and the federal government.
Libby, Montana, was declared a Superfund site two decades ago due to widespread asbestos contamination from vermiculite mining by W. R. Grace & Co.