A federal jury convicted a New Orleans nurse practitioner Thursday for her role in a $12.1 million Medicare fraud scheme involving cancer genetic tests ordered for hundreds of patients she never met or examined, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Scharmaine Lawson Baker, 58, was found guilty of six counts of health care fraud. According to the DOJ, Lawson Baker falsely diagnosed patients to justify unnecessary cancer genetic tests, including labeling male patients with cervical cancer. She did not review the test results, even when they showed gene mutations linked to increased cancer risk.
“Lawson Baker shamelessly exploited her medical license and the trust of vulnerable patients to enrich herself through a multimillion-dollar genetic testing fraud,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti. “The defendant peddled false promises of free cancer screenings while pocketing kickbacks for medically unnecessary tests.”
The tests, performed by patients with a cheek swab from a mail-in kit, screened for inherited gene mutations that may increase cancer risk.
From 2018 to 2019, Lawson Baker worked as an independent contractor for a company that claimed to provide telehealth services. Of the more than $12 million in fraudulent claims submitted to Medicare, laboratories involved in the operation received over $1.5 million in payments. In exchange for signing the orders, Lawson Baker accepted kickbacks from the company, which she later failed to disclose during bankruptcy proceedings.
Lawson Baker’s attorney, Clarence Roby Jr., argued during trial that she earned only $20 per call as an independent contractor and had no role in billing Medicare, disputing the portrayal of her as orchestrating a multimillion-dollar scheme. Roby did not return messages requesting comment.
The indictment and DOJ news release do not name the telehealth company, but defense filings reference Bronson Medical, a Utah-based firm listed on LinkedIn. Its website is no longer active. The DOJ did not answer questions about the company’s role.
Lawson Baker is also an author of a series of children’s books and guides for nurse practitioners starting their own practice.
Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson for the Eastern District of Louisiana said the scheme did more than drain taxpayer funds.
“Medicare fraud schemes such as these profoundly impact our society, not only because of the monetary loss sustained by our Medicare program, and the damages suffered by those who were victimized by the fraud, but also by the erosion of public trust in our institutions,” Simpson said.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the FBI. Trial Attorneys Samantha Usher and Gary A. Crosby II of the DOJ’s Fraud Section, along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas D. Moses of the Eastern District of Louisiana, prosecuted the case.
Lawson Baker faces up to 10 years in prison on each count and is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 19.
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