Anthony Bernens, MD
Internal Medicine · Walnut Creek, CANPI 1215983440
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 306 payments — averaging $20.67 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Johnson & Johnson$1K
- AbbVie$1K
- Pfizer$747
- Amgen$462
- GSK$293
- Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$258
- plus $2K from 32 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$6,324100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson & Johnson | 54 | $1,108 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 55 | $1,034 |
| Pfizer | 40 | $747 |
| Amgen | 18 | $462 |
| GSK | 13 | $293 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 11 | $258 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 13 | $257 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 9 | $186 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 10 | $180 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 9 | $169 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 7 | $154 |
| Exact Sciences | 5 | $120 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. | 6 | $120 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 7 | $112 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $105 |
| Novartis | 5 | $104 |
| AstraZeneca | 6 | $102 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 4 | $100 |
| Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 3 | $87 |
| Boston Scientific | 3 | $62 |
| Idorsia Pharmaceuticals US Inc | 3 | $60 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 2 | $59 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $57 |
| Vertiflex, Inc. | 2 | $41 |
| Nabriva Therapeutics, PLC | 2 | $37 |
| Ironshore Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 2 | $37 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $36 |
| Sanofi Pasteur Inc. | 2 | $36 |
| Gilead | 2 | $31 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 2 | $30 |
| Kyowa Kirin, Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| Alfasigma USA, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Eisai Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Cleerly, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Merck | 1 | $15 |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA | 1 | $14 |
| Insulet Corporation | 1 | $13 |
| Seqirus USA Inc | 1 | $12 |
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.
- VenaSeal$105
How this compares
$6,324 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 13,581 internal medicine providers in California.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 109 | $135,187 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 37 | $39,739 |
| CreonLipase/Protease/Amylase | 12 | $37,783 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 30 | $24,147 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 21 | $13,583 |
| LinzessLinaclotide | 23 | $12,345 |
| Breo ElliptaFluticasone/Vilanterol | 13 | $8,802 |
| MyrbetriqMirabegron | 15 | $7,740 |
| SymbicortBudesonide/Formoterol Fumarate | 17 | $4,355 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 213 | $4,002 |
| Arnuity ElliptaFluticasone Furoate | 17 | $3,961 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 230 | $3,842 |
| Nebivolol Hcl | 38 | $3,524 |
| Aspirin-Dipyridamole ErAspirin/Dipyridamole | 12 | $3,475 |
| SynthroidLevothyroxine Sodium | 49 | $3,038 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PfizerEliquis | $747 | $135,187109 claims |
| AbbVieCreon, Linzess, Synthroid | $1,034 | $53,16684 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $1,108 | $39,73937 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Breo Ellipta, Arnuity Ellipta | $293 | $26,34651 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $154 | $24,14730 claims |
| Astellas Pharma US IncMyrbetriq | $30 | $7,74015 claims |
| AstraZenecaSymbicort | $102 | $4,35517 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 13,581 internal medicine providers in California.
Other internal medicine in Walnut Creek
- Helen StaceyWalnut Creek$20.4M
- Andrew ChengSouth San Francisco$55.1M
- Joel NeutelTustin$34.9M
- Donald BrandonSan Diego$34M
- William TownerLos Angeles$27.4M
- Rahul AggarwalSan Francisco$24M
- Masoud AzizadNorthridge$21.1M
- Rohit Loombala Jolla$15.1M
- Zeid KayaliColton$14.2M
- Alexandra DrakakiSanta Monica$14.2M
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.