Babak Azarbal, MD
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology · Los Angeles, CANPI 1669402863
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 32 payments — averaging $75.04 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Edwards Lifesciences$1K
- Abbott$369
- Philips North America LLC$276
- Boston Scientific$265
- Penumbra, Inc.$235
- Recor Medical Inc$34
- plus $18 from 1 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$2,401100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Edwards Lifesciences | 7 | $1,206 |
| Abbott | 8 | $369 |
| Philips North America LLC | 12 | $276 |
| Boston Scientific | 2 | $265 |
| Penumbra, Inc. | 1 | $235 |
| Recor Medical Inc | 1 | $34 |
| Gilead | 1 | $18 |
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
$2,401 in reported general payments places this provider in the 15th percentile of 111 advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology providers in California.
See all advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology 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 | 128 | $125,400 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 98 | $66,845 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 37 | $42,170 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 15 | $25,519 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 13 | $21,034 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 16 | $16,794 |
| VascepaIcosapent Ethyl | 18 | $12,389 |
| Pitavastatin Calcium | 26 | $9,517 |
| Praluent PenAlirocumab | 15 | $7,377 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 13 | $5,780 |
| LivaloPitavastatin Calcium | 14 | $5,460 |
| Nebivolol Hcl | 76 | $3,223 |
| EdarbyclorAzilsartan Med/Chlorthalidone | 11 | $2,588 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 133 | $1,917 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 110 | $1,880 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology in Los Angeles
- Jon KobashigawaLos Angeles$539K
- Michael FongLos Angeles$361K
- Ajay VaidyaLos Angeles$284K
- Eugene DepasqualeLos Angeles$197K
- Joseph RahmanLos Angeles$131K
- Aaron WolfsonLos Angeles$101K
- Ronald WittelesStanford$4.1M
- James Heywoodla Jolla$2.1M
- Eldrin LewisStanford$1.8M
- Richard WrightSanta Monica$1.7M
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.