Carlos Vargas, MD
Gastroenterology · Miami, FLNPI 1750345757
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.3% of the total across 647 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 33 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 23.2% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations.
Across 647 payments — averaging $16.15 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC$2K
- AbbVie$2K
- Gilead$1K
- Ardelyx, Inc.$723
- Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.$636
- Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc$614
- plus $3K from 27 others
Across 26 payments — averaging $9959.32 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.
- Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc$259K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$10,37199%
- Education$761%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 211 | $2,423 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 136 | $2,108 |
| Gilead | 44 | $1,002 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 35 | $723 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 39 | $636 |
| Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc | 48 | $614 |
| Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 27 | $611 |
| Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc | 18 | $406 |
| Nestle Healthcare Nutrition Inc. | 14 | $246 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 11 | $233 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 7 | $186 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 8 | $153 |
| Madrigal Pharmaceuticals | 9 | $151 |
| Echosens North America, Inc. | 1 | $114 |
| Axonics, Inc. | 1 | $108 |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | 5 | $95 |
| Braintree Laboratories, Inc. | 4 | $91 |
| Redhill Biopharma Inc. | 6 | $88 |
| Mylan Specialty L.p. | 3 | $75 |
| Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $46 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 2 | $41 |
| Sanofi | 2 | $40 |
| Intra-sana Laboratories | 2 | $37 |
| Evoke Pharma, Inc. | 2 | $34 |
| Celltrion USA Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $24 |
| Exact Sciences | 1 | $23 |
| Alfasigma USA, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $23 |
| Organon | 1 | $20 |
| Shionogi Inc | 1 | $20 |
| Concordia Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| QOL Medical, LLC | 1 | $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
$10,447 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 1,388 gastroenterology providers in Florida.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| LinzessLinaclotide | 480 | $301,140 |
| XifaxanRifaximin | 71 | $237,586 |
| Ursodiol | 302 | $42,594 |
| ClenpiqSod Picosulf/Mag Ox/Citric Ac | 217 | $36,549 |
| Alosetron Hcl | 63 | $27,505 |
| ViberziEluxadoline | 22 | $26,479 |
| VemlidyTenofovir Alafenamide | 14 | $19,871 |
| ZenpepLipase/Protease/Amylase | 13 | $16,625 |
| Dicyclomine Hcl | 928 | $12,477 |
| Dexlansoprazole DrDexlansoprazole | 50 | $11,133 |
| CreonLipase/Protease/Amylase | 24 | $10,191 |
| Mesalamine | 28 | $9,571 |
| Famotidine | 733 | $8,433 |
| Sod Sulf-Potass Sulf-Mag SulfSodium, Potassium,mag Sulfates | 114 | $6,735 |
| Mesalamine ErMesalamine | 36 | $4,939 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVieLinzess, Viberzi, Creon | $2,108 | $337,810526 claims |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLCXifaxan | $2,423 | $237,58671 claims |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.Clenpiq | $636 | $36,549217 claims |
| GileadVemlidy | $1,002 | $19,87114 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 1,388 gastroenterology providers in Florida.
Other gastroenterology in Miami
- Lukasz KwapiszMiami$1.2M
- Joanna LopezMiami$670K
- Jerry MartelMiami$511K
- Andres GelrudMiami$208K
- Maria HernandezMiami$197K
- George SanchezMiami$117K
- Jodie BarkinMiami$101K
- Javier ParraMiami$68K
- Samuel GidayOrlando$2M
- Jennifer Seminerio-DiehlOrlando$1.1M
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.