Biswajit Kar, MD
Interventional Cardiology · Houston, TXNPI 1790865053
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (40.2%), food and beverage and consulting fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 30 manufacturers reported payments, led by Boston Scientific at 30.3% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $5,818, 3.0 times the $1,944 reported in 2019.
Across 154 payments — averaging $138.16 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Boston Scientific$6K
- Abbott$6K
- Transmedics, Inc.$3K
- Medtronic$2K
- Ancora Heart, Inc.$1K
- Edwards Lifesciences$1K
- plus $2K from 24 others
Across 55 payments — averaging $13,879 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.
- Edwards Lifesciences$700K
- Boston Scientific$43K
- Saranas, Inc.$12K
- Abbott$8K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$5,62526%
- Travel & lodging$8,55040%
- Food & beverage$6,76232%
- Education$580%
- Other$2821%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Scientific | 12 | $6,450 |
| Abbott | 56 | $5,786 |
| Transmedics, Inc. | 1 | $2,876 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 12 | $1,546 |
| Ancora Heart, Inc. | 5 | $1,422 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 14 | $1,334 |
| Abiomed | 3 | $404 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 11 | $383 |
| Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc. | 4 | $226 |
| Opsens Inc. | 1 | $145 |
| Novartis | 6 | $144 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 6 | $99 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 3 | $44 |
| Cardiva Medical, Inc. | 1 | $37 |
| AstraZeneca | 2 | $37 |
| Nuwellis, Inc. | 1 | $35 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $32 |
| Amgen | 2 | $30 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 1 | $29 |
| Imperative Care, Inc | 1 | $28 |
| Bayer | 1 | $26 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $25 |
| Analog Devices Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Teleflex LLC | 1 | $25 |
| Merck | 1 | $22 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Heartflow, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Arrow International, Inc. | 1 | $11 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 2 | $9 |
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.
- GENERAL - STRUCTURAL HEART$5,625
- ORGAN CARE SYSTEM$2,876
- AccuCinch$1,295
- Micra$908
- Mitra Clip system$493
- Impella$404
- ADVISOR$319
- PORTICO$282
- PASCAL$280
- HeartMate$261
- COREVALVE EVOLUT R$173
- CardioMEMS HF System$172
- ACCENT$170
- Angio-Seal Vascular Closure Dev$166
- AVVIGO Guidance System$166
- AVEIR$158
- Agilis HisPro$153
- Quadra Assura CRT Defibrillator$149
- OptoWire$145
- HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Dev$141
How this compares
$21,277 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 686 interventional cardiology 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 | 304 | $330,089 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 246 | $246,631 |
| EliquisApixaban | 186 | $195,430 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 105 | $93,252 |
| KineretAnakinra | 13 | $69,270 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 79 | $58,169 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 49 | $48,152 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 38 | $37,967 |
| Praluent PenAlirocumab | 43 | $27,285 |
| Repatha SyringeEvolocumab | 27 | $22,178 |
| SynjardyEmpagliflozin/Metformin Hcl | 16 | $20,435 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 15 | $15,798 |
| Icosapent Ethyl | 34 | $14,828 |
| Ranolazine ErRanolazine | 47 | $11,378 |
| PrografTacrolimus | 24 | $6,321 |
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 | $144 | $330,089304 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $25 | $195,430186 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Brilinta | $37 | $109,050120 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $99 | $48,15249 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 75th percentile of 686 interventional cardiology providers in Texas.
Other interventional cardiology in Houston
- Juan GranadaHouston$4.1M
- John IsaacHouston$1.8M
- Sanjay KunapuliHouston$267K
- Michele SartoriHouston$266K
- Abhijeet DhobleHouston$161K
- Amir KashaniHouston$148K
- Dhaval ParekhHouston$137K
- Neal KleimanHouston$118K
- Mehran MassumiHouston$114K
- Eduardo HernandezHouston$112K
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.