A judge has ruled that a health clinic in a Montana town plagued by deadly asbestos contamination must pay the government almost $6 million in penalties and damages after submitting hundreds of false asbestos claims
and other benefits they shouldn't have received. The federally funded clinic has been at the forefront of the medical response to deadly pollution from mining near Libby, Montana
After a seven-person jury agreed last month, U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen said in a July 18 order that he was imposing a stiff penalty to prevent future misconduct. The clinic demonstrated “a reckless disregard for proper medical procedure and the legal requirements of government programs,” the judge wrote.
The clinic's attorneys appealed the jury's verdict to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday. Clinic director Tracy McNew has said the facility could be forced into bankruptcy if forced to pay a multimillion-dollar judgement.The verdict also could harm the clinic's reputation and potentially undermine lawsuits by asbestos victims against BNSF and others that courts have held liable for contamination that’s turned Libby into one of the nation’s deadliest polluted sites.
Health officials have said at least 400 people have been killed and thousands sickened from asbestos exposure in the Libby area.
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