2023-07-23 03:18:33
BILLINGS, Montana (AP) — A health clinic in a Montana town plagued by deadly asbestos contamination must pay the government nearly $6 million in fines and damages after filing hundreds of false asbestos claims, a judge has ruled.
The 337 false claims made patients eligible for Medicare and other benefits they should not have received. The federally funded clinic has been at the forefront of the medical response to deadly contamination related to the WR Grace Co. mine, located near Libby, Montana.
The ruling against the Center for Asbestos Related Diseases clinic stems from a federal case brought by BNSF Railway in 2019 under the federal False Claims Act, which allows individuals to file lawsuits on behalf of the government.
BNSF, which for its part is facing hundreds of asbestos-related lawsuits, alleged that the clinic filed claims on behalf of patients without sufficient confirmation that they suffered from asbestos-related diseases.
After a seven-person jury concurred last month, U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen said in a July 18 order that he was imposing a stiff sentence to prevent future misconduct.
Christensen said he was particularly concerned that the clinic’s high-profile doctor, Brad Black, had diagnosed himself with an asbestos-related disease and that a nurse had applied for benefits for her own mother.
The judge also cited evidence in the trial of high rates of opioid prescriptions by the clinic for people who may not have had a true asbestos-related diagnosis.
The clinic showed “reckless disregard for proper medical procedure and the legal requirements of government programs,” the judge wrote.
As required by law, the judge tripled the $1.1 million in damages determined by the jury, to nearly $3.3 million, and imposed additional fines totaling $2.6 million.
The judge awarded BNSF 25% of the proceeds, as allowed by the False Claims Act. Federal prosecutors previously refused to intervene in the case and no criminal charges have been filed against the clinic.
Lawyers for the clinic appealed the jury’s verdict to the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Thursday. The clinic’s director, Tracy McNew, has said the facility could be forced into bankruptcy if they are forced to pay a multi-million dollar fine.
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