Augustine Njoku, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Tyler, TXNPI 1174784904
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (56.2%), food and beverage and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Medtronic accounts for 62.2% of it on its own, with 29 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $7,082 and has fallen 68.6% since, to $2,227 in 2025.
Across 267 payments — averaging $44.59 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$7K
- Abbott$643
- Novartis$642
- Shockwave Medical, Inc$438
- Inari Medical, Inc.$430
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$326
- plus $2K from 24 others
Across 4 payments — averaging $1750.00 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Novo Nordisk AS$7K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$6,69256%
- Food & beverage$5,19844%
- Education$140%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic | 43 | $7,402 |
| Abbott | 14 | $643 |
| Novartis | 47 | $642 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 29 | $438 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 5 | $430 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 19 | $326 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 19 | $251 |
| Pfizer | 12 | $211 |
| Merck | 12 | $199 |
| Cardiovascular Systems Inc. | 13 | $189 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 9 | $178 |
| Amgen | 9 | $147 |
| Bayer | 3 | $119 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 1 | $110 |
| Stryker | 1 | $89 |
| AstraZeneca | 5 | $68 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 4 | $66 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 4 | $57 |
| Irhythm Technologies, Inc. | 2 | $51 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 3 | $47 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $45 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $31 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 1 | $31 |
| Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. | 1 | $29 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $24 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Teleflex LLC | 1 | $18 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $14 |
| Surmodics, Inc. | 2 | $13 |
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
$11,904 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th 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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 361 | $309,435 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 87 | $58,776 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 97 | $52,665 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 52 | $52,321 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 57 | $49,673 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 43 | $25,823 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 20 | $13,386 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 544 | $3,929 |
| Ranolazine ErRanolazine | 41 | $3,710 |
| Isosorbide Dinitrate | 92 | $3,263 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 451 | $3,262 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 366 | $3,218 |
| Carvedilol | 371 | $2,245 |
| Lisinopril | 389 | $2,000 |
| Potassium Chloride | 74 | $1,675 |
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 | $211 | $309,435361 claims |
| AstraZenecaBrilinta, Farxiga | $68 | $66,051117 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $66 | $58,77687 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $642 | $52,32152 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $251 | $49,67357 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 80th percentile of 1,515 cardiovascular disease providers in Texas.
Other cardiovascular disease in Tyler
- Ramin Farzaneh-FarDallas$17.1M
- John OsborneGrapevine$1.3M
- Darren McGuireDallas$1.2M
- Peter McCulloughDallas$664K
- Ann NavarDallas$616K
- Biykem BozkurtHouston$606K
- Milton PackerDallas$530K
- Amarinder BindraDallas$512K
- Robert SalazarKingwood$478K
- Reynolds DelgadoHouston$471K
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.