Arup Achari, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Houston, TXNPI 1538146022
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 162 payments — averaging $31.29 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$791
- Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc.$653
- Novartis$597
- Amgen$446
- Johnson & Johnson$401
- Boston Scientific$258
- plus $2K from 22 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$5,050100%
- Education$190%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 31 | $791 |
| Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc. | 7 | $653 |
| Novartis | 33 | $597 |
| Amgen | 22 | $446 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 18 | $401 |
| Boston Scientific | 3 | $258 |
| Cathworks, Inc. | 1 | $231 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 8 | $175 |
| AstraZeneca | 3 | $168 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 1 | $159 |
| Bayer | 2 | $152 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 2 | $139 |
| Abbott | 1 | $135 |
| Pfizer | 6 | $123 |
| Cardiovascular Systems Inc. | 2 | $119 |
| Cardinal Health 200 LLC | 4 | $99 |
| Novo Nordisk | 3 | $75 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, PLC | 2 | $59 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $47 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $36 |
| Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. | 1 | $34 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $34 |
| Heartflow, Inc. | 1 | $31 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 2 | $30 |
| Cleerly, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $20 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Merck | 1 | $16 |
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.
- OPTIMIZER$969
- FFRangio$231
- EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYSTEM WITH VISITRAX$159
- ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION SYSTEM$159
- SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM$159
- ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOSPHERE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM$159
- ISOLATOR SURGICAL ABLATION SYSTEM$159
- XIENCE SKYPOINT$135
- General - Balloon Catheters$132
- FARXIGA$132
- Kerendia$125
- XARELTO$109
- GENERAL VASCULAR ACCESS$102
How this compares
$5,069 in reported general payments places this provider in the 55th percentile of 1,515 cardiovascular disease providers in Texas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 539 | $658,150 |
| EliquisApixaban | 526 | $645,868 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 758 | $572,836 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 339 | $344,191 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 187 | $227,894 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 271 | $218,322 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 186 | $190,767 |
| Praluent PenAlirocumab | 208 | $150,373 |
| MultaqDronedarone Hcl | 58 | $57,697 |
| Ezetimibe | 760 | $25,274 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 1,350 | $21,616 |
| Clonidine | 163 | $21,008 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 1,135 | $19,702 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 1,346 | $16,308 |
| Prasugrel Hcl | 183 | $13,022 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| NovartisEntresto | $597 | $658,150539 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $123 | $645,868526 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Brilinta, Crestor | $168 | $567,048623 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $401 | $227,894187 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $175 | $190,767186 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 55th percentile of 1,515 cardiovascular disease providers in Texas.
Other cardiovascular disease in Houston
- Christie BallantyneHouston$4.6M
- Syed NaqviHouston$3.6M
- James FeldmanHouston$3.1M
- Aditya SamalHouston$2.6M
- Pranav LoyalkaHouston$2.4M
- Anwar AhmadHouston$1.4M
- Reynolds DelgadoHouston$1.1M
- Richard SmallingHouston$908K
- Amin KarimHouston$853K
- Stephen LittleHouston$806K
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.