Railroad says Superfund town's health clinic submitted false medical claims
A major railroad company is trying to convince a federal jury that a Montana clinic submitted hundreds of asbestos claims for people who weren’t sick and bilked taxpayer funds
MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A major U.S. railroad found liable for spreading hazardous asbestos that killed hundreds of people in a Montana town is trying to convince a federal jury that a local clinic submitted hundreds of asbestos claims for people who weren’t sick, earning them lifetime government benefits and bilking taxpayer funds.
The case focuses on the Center For Asbestos Related Disease in Libby, Montana, and the health clinic's high-profile doctor, Brad Black, who has been at the forefront of efforts to help residents of the town, which came to national prominence when it was declared a deadly Superfund site in 2000.
Since 2003, Black and the CARD clinic have certified more than 3,400 people, primarily from the Libby area, with asbestos-related diseases.
BNSF Railway — controlled by billionaire Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate — has alleged during a trial taking place in Missoula that more than half the certifications were based on false medical submissions from CARD. The railway shipped asbestos-tainted vermiculite through Libby.
