The U.S. Legal System and Places Like Libby, Montana: A Complete Fail.
Asbestos was mined extensively in many locations within the United States, including from the vermiculite mine in Libby, Montana. This mine opened in 1923 and was operated by W.R. Grace until it was closed in 1990, but only after exposing the residents and the environment to extensive asbestos pollution and causing significant illnesses. Even to this day, over 30 years after the mine was closed, those residents are suffering and have generally not received significant compensation. W.R. Grace filed for bankruptcy protection and the Libby, Montana residents, by and by, were left to their own devices.
In the face of this devastation, it seems that one of their local doctors might have decided to put a heavy thumb on the scale in order to diagnose 337 of the residents with asbestosis, As recently stated:
“A health clinic in a Montana town plagued by deadly asbestos contamination must pay the government almost $6 million in penalties and damages after it submitted hundreds of false asbestos claims, a judge ruled.“
“The 337 false claims made patients eligible for Medicare 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.”
“The judgement against the Center for Asbestos Related Disease clinic comes in a federal case filed by BNSF Railway in 2019 under the False Claims Act, which allows private parties to sue on the government’s behalf.”
The complete article is located at:
At first glance, it would just merely seem that one more doctor committed Medicare fraud to game the system. However, having read Libby, Montana: Asbestos & the Deadly Science of an American Corporation by Andrea Peacock published in 2003 and dug into the Libby history, I doubt that the lawsuit ruling is the complete story.
Now, I am a law and order type of person. I do not support fraud on any level, but this case has an odor; you know, the type of odor that those of us attorneys who hang around lawsuits can taste even if we can’t put our finger on the cause. I suspect that the local medical clinic helping its residents in the face of their battles and the abandonment by those elected to serve might not be what it seems. I am also suspect given that the lawsuit was filed by a local railroad as a third party. I look forward to the appeal.
Let me know what you think either by leaving a comment or emailing me at TheAsbestosBlog@gmail.com. Thanks. Marty
2 Responses
As you know, we have some experience with these types of cases. That a business was the whistleblower jumped off the page.
Same here. An employee putting their job on the line is one thing.
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