Libby, Mong. -It connects dozens of feet of tubes to connect Gayla Benefield to her oxygen machine and walk in the room from the inside of the picturesque KOOTENAI RIVER and surround the cabinet.
Like many people living in this secluded village about 80 miles from the US-Canadian border, the 81-year-old Benefield is AsbestosScar of the lungs due to asbestos exposure.
Her father worked in a closed mine and supplied mineral minerals for various purposes for vaginal pain, insulation, fire resistance, and even horticulture around the world. The mine was closed in 1990 and in 1999 A Seattle Post Intelligencer Survey The relationship between asbestos contaminated minerals and the number of sick libi residents has been publicly revealed.
Benefield remembered the white dust covering his father’s clothes when his father returned home from work, and later found that the whole family was exposed to asbestos, a small fiber tied to the lungs.
Benefield said, “In the end, the scar is completely surrounded by the lungs.
The Environmental Protection Bureau declared a part of libby. Super Fund site Seven years later in 2002, the agency declared the city’s public health emergency for the first time in American history. One study found that 694 Libby residents were killed from 1979 to 2011. In addition, the health care provider of 3,200 villages estimates that one in 10 people suffer from asbestos -related diseases.
The estimated Asbestos -related Disease CenterOr card, 501 (c) (3) Non -profit clinic that provides free clinical selection to local residents. The clinic operated mainly through US government funds 8,900 or more. According to the 2024 card report, almost one -third of the clinic test is for new patients because the symptoms of asbestos -related diseases can take more than 30 years.
However, Libea residents are no longer treated because the ruling against the lawsuit filed by BNSF Railway has closed the card clinic in May. Clinic leaders are fighting against court orders and vowed to open the door again, but the lawsuit is not the only threat to the clinic’s survival.
Federal subsidies that provide 80%of the clinic operating revenue In the cut list The Trump administration is considering. Tracy McNew, executive director of the card, said that if the $ 3 million subsidies are cut, the clinic will close for good.
The subsidies were not freezed after the withdrawal of memo freezing subsidies related to non -governmental organizations after the management and budget office was issued. Diversity, equity and inclusion; And other regions. However, White House officials will continue to review subsidies for potential cuts, and MCNEW will uncertainly leave Grant’s status as an executive and lawyer who fights in court to recover the confiscated card assets in the BNSF lawsuit.
White House Budget Office. The Ministry of Health and Welfare did not respond to the request from the NPR and KFF Health News for the clinic subsidy status.
In the BNSF case, Tim Bechtold, a lawyer who represents the clinic, said it could not be easy to reduce subsidies. Affordable Care Act has been able to access Libby Astbestos patients with Medicare and have requested federal governments to provide funding for diagnostic services.
2020 The Supreme Court of Montana made a ruling The BNSF is responsible for spreading asbestos along the track when the railroad ships a Libby Vermiculite nationwide.
the year before, The railroad was sued Under the False Claim Act, he insisted that the card had made the government to cheat to help the card wrongly diagnose the patient and apply for the Medicare benefits. The law allows a personal party I take a fraudulent case If the federal prosecution does not file a case, it is on behalf of the federal government. In this case, the awarded money returns to the federal government, but the private parties maintain some of the prize money.
juror With BNSF’s claim This card forged the records of more than 300 patients who received federal benefits. A card official said that the patient was not diagnosed with asbestos -related diseases, but the clinic decided to qualify for Medicare according to ACA based on abnormal radiological readings.
In a statement on the NPR and KFF Health News, BNSF refused to attempt to avoid legal responsibility for asbestos pollution along the track.
In 2023, A Clinic applied for bankruptcy. BNSF Litigation Citation. In May, BNSF persuaded the County Court. Allow it to seize the company Almost all card property to collect about $ 6 million in court ruling. I controled almost everything from the clinic building to the grassy machine.
The federal government is Defense. Kurt Alme Montana’s US lawyer office said BNSF could not be seized because the card real estate was largely purchased as a federal subsidy fund in the court submission.
The case was moved to the federal court and the judge must decide whether to seize the card assets to collect a part of the ruling. In the meantime, card patients need to find another place for examination, treatment, and difficult services.
Diagnosing people with asbestos -related diseases or other conditions show that they are associated with asbestos exposure. Robert KRatzkeA tumor specialist at the University of Minnesota studies cancer related to asbestos.
“Most doctors will not be humbly clue about what to find,” he said.
Kratzke explained that X -rays or CT scans should be performed in a specific way and the following professional doctors should read. B readerTo diagnose the patient.
Kratzke said it would be difficult to rebuild the card clinic’s expertise in a small town like Libby.
Kratzke said, “It will be very difficult to follow these people because Libby’s doctors and hospitals have to follow for the rest of their lives.
Jenan Swenson is the only one of the five children of Gayla Benefield, who has not yet been diagnosed with asbestos -related diseases.
She received the last screening at the Card Clinic the day before closing the door in May. Now a 62 -year -old boy is clear.
Swenson is expected to have a breathing problem due to asbestos exposure in childhood. The mother who is a caregiver requires a continuous screening test for lung cancer.
She was worried that if the card clinic did not open the door again, she had to travel out of the Lord to find her nursing. She doesn’t think her family is the only family.
Swanson said, “There is probably no place for many people to go.
This article is part of the partnership NPR and Montana Public Radio.
