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. The claims made patients eligible for Medicare and other benefits they shouldn’t have received. The Center for Asbestos Related Disease in Libby, Montana, had sought to to reverse last year’s findings by a jury. A clinic attorney argued its actions were deemed acceptable by federal officials. But a three-judge panel said Tuesday that the clinic couldn’t blame the officials for its own failure to follow the law. A clinic representative says it will continue serving victims of widespread asbestos contamination from a former vermiculite mine near Libby.