Scientist Must Pay $4 Mil for Trans Surgery

A scientist in New York will have to pay $4 million in civil fraud damages after using a government-issued grant for her male-to-female gender reassignment surgery.

D.B. Karron, 54, received a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce to research and develop the use of computer technology for radiation therapy, surgical planning, and making prosthetic devices, according to the New York Post. She was convicted of criminal charges relating to the grant, but the federal government also brought a civil suit against her.

According to the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, the biomedical engineer used the money to pay for her own surgery, in addition to the surgeries of three others who worked at her firm, Computer Aided Surgery Inc.  Karron also used the money to pay for personal expenses including track lighting, rent, and appliances for her apartment.

Karron, 54, was convicted of the misappropriation in 2008 and subsequently served 15 months in a federal prison in West Virginia. In the civil suit against her, she was given the maximum penalty, paying triple the amount she received and then spent.