Court upholds finding that Montana clinic submitted false asbestos claims

Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court determination that a Montana health clinic submitted more than 300 false asbestos claims on behalf of patients. The claims made patients eligible for Medicare and other benefits they shouldn’t have received. The Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby, Montana, asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse last year’s ruling. The clinic’s attorney argued its actions had been deemed acceptable by federal officials. But a three-judge panel said in a decision issued late Tuesday that the clinic couldn’t blame federal officials for failing to follow the proper procedures to diagnose people.