Akwasi Sefa, MD
Internal Medicine · Maringouin, LANPI 1437143757
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 400 payments — averaging $16.20 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$1K
- Novo Nordisk$935
- AstraZeneca$551
- Novartis$451
- Valeritas, Inc.$352
- Lilly USA, LLC$313
- plus $2K from 35 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$6,31497%
- Education$1673%
Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.
General payments by program year
Who reported the general payments
Companies are grouped under their corporate parent — a single manufacturer often files under several CMS reporting entities. Research and ownership payments are counted separately and are not in this table.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 104 | $1,422 |
| Novo Nordisk | 52 | $935 |
| AstraZeneca | 28 | $551 |
| Novartis | 26 | $451 |
| Valeritas, Inc. | 28 | $352 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 19 | $313 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 14 | $266 |
| GSK | 11 | $204 |
| Amgen | 12 | $202 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 19 | $193 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 9 | $154 |
| Ascensia Diabetes Care US Inc. | 11 | $153 |
| ITI, Inc. (d/b/a Intra-cellular Therapies, Inc.) | 6 | $132 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 5 | $108 |
| LEO Pharma Inc. | 5 | $102 |
| Bayer | 4 | $83 |
| Merck | 5 | $79 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 4 | $79 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 4 | $71 |
| Dexcom, Inc. | 4 | $67 |
| Medtronic | 2 | $62 |
| Abbott | 2 | $47 |
| Almatica Pharma LLC | 2 | $47 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 2 | $47 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 2 | $42 |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA | 2 | $40 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 2 | $27 |
| Viiv Healthcare Company | 1 | $24 |
| Corium, LLC | 2 | $23 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 2 | $23 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $21 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. | 1 | $19 |
| Cequr Corporation | 1 | $19 |
| Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Exact Sciences | 1 | $17 |
| Mylan Specialty L.p. | 1 | $17 |
| Biogen | 1 | $16 |
| Corcept Therapeutics | 1 | $15 |
| Circassia Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Electromed, Inc. | 1 | $11 |
What the payments were tied to
Products named in the reported payments. Only payments of $100 or more are attributed here — the typical reported payment nationally is a meal worth about $16, and listing those product-by-product would be noise.
How this compares
$6,481 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 1,528 internal medicine providers in Louisiana.
Medicare billing
What this is not: this is the amount Original Medicare Part B allowed for services this provider billed in 2024. It is not their income. It excludes Medicare Advantage — now more than half of all Medicare enrollment — along with Medicaid and all commercial insurance, and it is gross practice revenue before staff, rent, supplies and malpractice premiums. CMS also suppresses any figure covering ten or fewer patients, so low-volume providers appear smaller than they are.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| OzempicSemaglutide | 208 | $402,038 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 163 | $270,091 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 98 | $138,530 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 83 | $101,673 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 41 | $89,750 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 35 | $51,011 |
| LinzessLinaclotide | 31 | $46,497 |
| EliquisApixaban | 33 | $45,794 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 27 | $42,118 |
| VraylarCariprazine Hcl | 26 | $38,767 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 29 | $33,016 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 15 | $26,790 |
| Teriparatide | 13 | $25,896 |
| TradjentaLinagliptin | 13 | $19,481 |
| NamzaricMemantine Hcl/Donepezil Hcl | 16 | $18,424 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| Novo NordiskOzempic, Novolog | $935 | $407,991230 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCMounjaro, Trulicity | $313 | $359,841204 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Symbicort | $551 | $154,653127 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance, Tradjenta, Stiolto Respimat | $193 | $137,122114 claims |
| AbbVieLinzess, Vraylar, Namzaric | $1,422 | $103,68973 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Breo Ellipta, Anoro Ellipta | $204 | $63,34655 claims |
| MerckJanuvia | $79 | $51,01135 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $21 | $45,79433 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $451 | $26,79015 claims |
| Astellas Pharma US IncMyrbetriq | $71 | $15,41012 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 90th percentile of 1,528 internal medicine providers in Louisiana.
Other internal medicine in Maringouin
- William SmithNew Orleans$50.5M
- Robert JeanfreauMetairie$13.4M
- Katherine PearceBaton Rouge$12M
- Ernest ThompsonBaker$2.1M
- Brian LewisNew Orleans$2M
- Otis BarnumNatchitoches$1.8M
- Satinder SainiCrowley$1.8M
- Randall MillerEunice$1.2M
- Donna RyanBaton Rouge$991K
- Steven DeitelzweigNew Orleans$939K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Billing: Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners, data year 2024. Original Medicare Part B only.
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.