Health clinic in Montana Superfund town faces penalties for false asbestos claims

By MATTHEW BROWN and AMY BETH HANSON
Associated Press

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A health clinic in a Montana town plagued by deadly asbestos contamination faces millions of dollars in penalties after a jury found it submitted 337 false asbestos claims to the U.S. government. The false claims made patients eligible for Medicare and other benefits they shouldn’t have received. The verdict leaves the clinic liable for $3.2 million from damages incurred by the government, plus millions of dollars in potential penalties. The case focused on the Center for Asbestos Related Disease clinic in Libby, Montana, which gained national notoriety when it was declared a deadly Superfund site two decades ago. The verdict against the clinic could undermine numerous lawsuits from asbestos victims against BNSF Railway and others that courts have held liable for the contamination.