Home / Crime and Justice / Texas NP Jailed for $12M Medicare Cancer Test Scheme
Texas NP Jailed for $12M Medicare Cancer Test Scheme
20 Jun
Summary
- Nurse practitioner sentenced to 87 months for Medicare fraud.
- She billed Medicare over $12 million for unnecessary cancer tests.
- Ordered tests for male patients, ignored results showing cancer risk.
A nurse practitioner from Fulshear, Texas, has been sentenced to 87 months in prison for her role in a healthcare fraud scheme. Scharmaine Lawson Baker was found guilty of submitting over $12.1 million in false claims to Medicare for medically unnecessary cancer genetic tests. She was ordered to pay over $1.5 million in restitution.
Lawson Baker, who had written books on Medicare regulations, allegedly accepted tens of thousands of dollars in kickbacks. She signed orders for expensive genetic tests after calls lasting less than 30 seconds, without examining patients. Evidence showed she ordered ovarian and cervical cancer tests for male patients, demonstrating a disregard for actual medical care.
The scheme operated from October 2018 to October 2019. Lawson Baker's fraudulent orders led to laboratories receiving over $1.5 million from Medicare. She failed to disclose the illegal payments in her bankruptcy petition. A federal jury convicted her on six counts of health care fraud following a three-day trial in July 2025.
