Free asbestos health screenings continue

It can get a bit confusing.

Yes, the Montana Asbestos Screening and Surveillance Activities office on Mineral Avenue in Libby will close its doors later this month. But no, that doesn’t mean free asbestos health screenings will discontinue.

Instead, those seeking a screening can do so through the Libby Asbestos Medical Plan, also known as LAMP.

“The idea here is the screening is available to people Š there are ways to do that,” said Dr. Brad Black of the Center for Asbestos Related Disease, the clinic known commonly around town as CARD. “The difference is this is a medical screening evaluation as opposed to an epidemiologic screening.”

As Black indicated, the MASSA program collected data for epidemiology purposes – that is, studied factors that affected the health of those tested to be used in a report. But those tested through the program were not diagnosed, a step that must be done by a doctor. Patients were referred from MASSA for those who might require a full medical evaluation.

“LAMP is more of a medical screening,” Black said. “It deals with patients’ symptoms and goes much deeper. What it does is it affords them a more thorough medical evaluation.”

LAMP provides annual asbestos health-screening benefits for Libby residents who lived or worked in town for six months prior to 2000. The 3,100 people who qualified for MASSA would also qualify for LAMP.

CARD and St. John’s Lutheran Hospital accept LAMP’s payment as full coverage for all parts of the asbestos health screening. That coverage includes a pulmonary function test and doctor consultation at CARD and X-ray and computerized tomography (CT) services at St. John’s.

LAMP screening benefits can also be utilized at many other medical facilities nationwide but patients might end up paying because of program caps that are in place.

LAMP’s original financial backing came through funds produced from a lawsuit settlement with W.R. Grace. But since, the program has added money through a $1.5 million appropriation from the state, an amount designed to help carry it on for two years. LAMP is now in its second year of that funding.

“Supposedly, it would go through the end of next year Š at least a year away is what’s expected,” Black said.

The screenings through LAMP were originally created by the Libby nonprofit group, Asbestos Related Health Care Project.

MASSA is scheduled to close its doors on Sept. 19. Black isn’t sure if it will impact new patient numbers at CARD.

“You don’t know what to expect but I don’t sense it’s going to be a huge change, maybe 10 a month,” Black said. “We have no idea.”