Facebook/Scharmaine Lawson Baker
New Orleans nurse practitioner Scharmaine Lawson Baker was convicted for her role in a $12.1 million Medicare swindle involving cancer genetic tests ordered for hundreds of patients who she never met or examined, federal officials say.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Baker, 58, was found guilty of six counts of health care fraud after falsely diagnosing individuals to justify unnecessary screenings — and even impossibly claimed that male patients had cervical cancer.
Authorities say that from 2018 to 2019, the greedy gal worked as an independent contractor for a company that claimed to provide telehealth services — and signed a slew of orders for pricey testing after phone calls with patients that often lasted under 60 seconds.
DOJ Criminal Division Head Matthew R. Galeotti. Getty Images
The DOJ also alleges that she incorrectly informed clients they were being screened for cancer at no cost — even though the tests did not actually identify any existing disease.
The feds say the labs involved received over $1.5 million in reimbursements for the bogus orders — and charge that Baker accepted kickbacks and bribes from the telehealth company that she also did not disclose in a subsequent bankruptcy filing.
“Lawson Baker shamelessly exploited her medical license and the trust of vulnerable patients to enrich herself,” says Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the DOJ’s Criminal Division.
She faces up to 10 years in prison on each count and is scheduled to be sentenced in November.