A jury awarded $1.5 million to identical sisters accused of exam cheating.

The Medical University of South Carolina has been sued for defamation by identical twin sisters suspected of cheating on their year-end medical school examinations.

Kayla and Kellie Bingham were charged with “academic dishonesty” in May 2016 after test proctors analyzed the results of an exam on which their performance was found to be eerily identical.

The twins’ identical responses to 296 of 307 questions, including 54 incorrect answers, alarmed university administrators, who initiated an investigation into their performance.

According to court records, a school “honor council” stated the duo “were signaling one another and swapping notes” and finally determined they had cheated on the exam.

“It was an eight-hour exam during which we behaved normally,” Kayla Bingham told CBS MoneyWatch.

The Bingham successfully challenged the decision and sued the institution, claiming that they had behaved and performed similarly academically and athletically for years.

A South Carolina jury determined in November that the school had defamed the sisters and awarded them $1.5 million in damages after a four-day trial.

The Binghams’ legal argument was based on the notion that identical twins often perform similarly on tests given their genetic profiles.

Numerous studies suggest that identical twins frequently perform similarly on a variety of cognitive tests, according to Nancy Segal, who directs California State University, Fullerton’s Twin Studies Center and testified in the case.

“There is a plethora of psychological research that suggests that identical twins do perform quite similarly on measures of intelligence, information processing, and quickness of reaction,” Segal, a psychologist, told CBS MoneyWatch.

“It captures our attention when identical twins perform quite differently,” she continued. “It is extremely consistent with the literature when they perform similarly. I’d be astonished if they hadn’t scored similarly.”

The Bingham claimed in their lawsuit that the infidelity charges caused them severe hardship, including panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Extremely unfriendly”

“It was a hostile atmosphere. People we’d known, sat next to, and studied with for two years refused to talk to us “According to Kellie Bingham of CBS MoneyWatch.

”They were aware of our hard ethic and study habits, but they refused to listen to our side of the story. People we relied on absolutely abandoned us.”

The university’s claim, as well as the events that followed, hampered the Binghams’ ambitions to become doctors. They currently work at the same South Carolina law firm as government affairs advisors.

“We realized that once word gets out, even if it’s inaccurate, it harms your reputation as a person. “So we completely changed directions,” Kayla explained, adding that she “wanted to fight back since I had been harmed.””

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