Twins with History of Similar Test Scores Win Lawsuit After Medical School Alleged Cheating on Exam

Identical twins Kayla and Kellie Bingham were accused of cheating on a medical school exam in 2016. Last month, they won a defamation case against the Medical University of South Carolina and were awarded $1.5 million in damages, according to court documents.

Kayla and Kellie, then 24, were in their second year of studies at MUSC when they took the test in May 2016, according to Insider. Kellie told the outlet that they were given assigned seats "about four or five feet apart" at the same table — but that they couldn't see each other — for the exam.

A faculty member who was remotely monitoring the test-taking noticed that the twins "were progressing similarly through their examinations and had many of the same incorrect answers," the twins alleged in court documents filed ahead of last month's trial.

They also claimed that the proctor had been told to keep an eye on them and took notes on their behavior during the test, noting how they'd "nodded their heads during the examination, and occasionally pushed back from their computers, looked around the classroom, or shuffled their scratch paper."

Kayla and Kellie Bingham Kayla and Kellie Bingham

Two weeks after the exam, the faculty members accused them of cheating, according to Insider.

MUSC did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

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A subsequent letter sent to the President of the College of Medicine's Honor Council stated "that cheating had occurred and Plaintiffs were signaling one another and passing notes," the twins alleged in court documents.

Speaking with Insider, Kayla said that "there was no signaling" and "we were just nodding at a question at our own computer screens."

Google Maps Medical University of South Carolina

They were initially found guilty by the school's Honor Council. However, on appeal the decision was reversed, according to court documents.

"We thought it had gone away," Kellie told Insider. However, Kayla told the outlet that wherever they went, "people would gossip about us and we'd get a cold reception."

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Court documents allege that the findings of the Honor Council were "leaked to the student body" and "due to the ensuing hostility," the twins left medical school and went on to "abandon their plans for careers in medicine altogether."

"It honestly killed me," Kellie told Insider. "I'd dreamed about being a doctor since I was little —  Kayla and I wanted to help people."

After withdrawing from the school in September 2016, the twins filed the lawsuit in 2017, according to the outlet.

"We weren't going to roll over and let our reputation be ruined," remarked Kayla.

Kayla and Kellie Bingham Kayla and Kellie Bingham

After going to trial last month, a jury sided with the twins and awarded each sister $750,000 in damages, according to court documents.

During the trial, a behavioral genetics expert testified that twins are "genetically predisposed to behave the same way" and that cheating complaints against twins are "common," Insider reported.

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"Kellie and Kayla were subject to a complete lack of understanding of the impact of their corresponding genetic profiles," Nancy Segal, who founded the Twin Studies Center at California State University, Fullerton, said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.

"Scientific research shows that identical twins have similarities that go far beyond their shared appearance," Segal added, explaining that due to similar "cognitive processes and response times" as well as "typically being raised in the same environment," having similar test scores is "a common occurrence among identical twins."

Another professor also wrote a letter in their defense according to the outlet. In the letter, the professor reportedly said the twins had the exact same answers on an exam he supervised in 2012 — and that they were sitting on opposite ends of the room at the time.

In a release obtained by PEOPLE, it was noted that the twins have "often obtained the exact same score on tests they took on different days and in different locations," including on their SATs.

Kayla and Kellie Bingham Kayla and Kellie Bingham

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As for what the future holds, both sisters completed law school last year, graduating with similar grade point averages, according to the statement.

"Our verdict has given us hope again as we look ahead to our future and careers," Kellie said.

"There were multiple points of failure from faculty and staff that led to our experience," added Kayla, noting that although it was painful to relieve the past, "we had to stand up and fight for the truth."

"Hopefully our case will ensure other twins are not victimized like we were," she continued.