EAST LANSING, MI — A Saginaw physician will stand trial in Ingham County on 23 counts of Medicaid fraud, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Thursday.
Dr. James Carthron, 61, is alleged to have repeatedly billed Medicaid for telephone consultations that never occurred, Nessel stated previously. This occurred repeatedly between May 31 and September 27, 2024, she stated.
Carthron was arraigned in August 2025 in 54-B District Court in East Lansing.
Each count of Medicaid fraud-making a false claim carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison and/or a $50,000 fine.
Carthron formerly operated PRN Urgent Care in Saginaw, before closing the medical practice in 2023.
“Millions of Michigan residents rely on the Medicaid program for their healthcare services, and we must defend it from fraud and bad actors,” Nessel said at the time of Carthron’s arraignment. “My office will continue to safeguard this program by holding accountable those who seek to exploit Medicaid.”
Carthron was bound over before 54-B District Court Judge Molly E. Hennessey Greenwalt on Thursday, Jan. 15. The case is awaiting assignment of a judge in the 30th Circuit Court. No additional court dates have yet been set.
The Attorney General’s Health Care Fraud Division is handling this case. The HCFD is the federally-certified Medicaid Fraud Control Unit for Michigan.
The HCFD receives 75% of its funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under a grant award totaling $5.5 million for the fiscal year 2026. The remaining 25% percent, totaling $1,8 million, is funded by the state of Michigan.