Carlos Vela
Physician Assistant · Edinburg, TXNPI 1124219639
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 214 payments — averaging $35.23 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$1K
- Optinose US, Inc.$973
- Amgen$968
- Novo Nordisk$838
- Dexcom, Inc.$565
- Lilly USA, LLC$561
- plus $3K from 16 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$7,540100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 15 | $1,100 |
| Optinose US, Inc. | 26 | $973 |
| Amgen | 30 | $968 |
| Novo Nordisk | 23 | $838 |
| Dexcom, Inc. | 7 | $565 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 44 | $561 |
| Nevro Corp. | 7 | $484 |
| AstraZeneca | 15 | $392 |
| AbbVie | 13 | $322 |
| Bayer | 10 | $316 |
| Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. | 6 | $225 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 2 | $143 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 2 | $139 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $120 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $118 |
| Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $83 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. | 3 | $64 |
| Pfizer | 3 | $62 |
| Exact Sciences | 1 | $19 |
| Phadia US Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 2 | $14 |
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.
- Xhance$643
- FREESTYLE LIBRE 3$592
- Repatha$372
- Senza$364
- Ozempic$232
- DEXCOM G6 TRANSMITTER$227
- JOT DX$182
- Kerendia$150
- FARXIGA$125
- XIFAXAN$124
- KRYSTEXXA$121
- JARDIANCE$121
- Veltassa$120
- Inspire$119
- INTERSTIM$118
- Otezla$110
- FreeStyle Libre$110
- DEXCOM G7 GSS (161)$108
- DEXCOM STELO GLUCOSE BIOSENSOR$108
How this compares
$7,540 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 8,308 physician assistant 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 |
|---|---|---|
| OzempicSemaglutide | 215 | $220,141 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 161 | $162,107 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 106 | $118,343 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 109 | $112,818 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 72 | $82,723 |
| LinzessLinaclotide | 52 | $41,695 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 32 | $38,843 |
| TradjentaLinagliptin | 32 | $37,690 |
| KerendiaFinerenone | 28 | $32,335 |
| JanumetSitagliptin Phos/Metformin Hcl | 30 | $31,868 |
| EliquisApixaban | 14 | $17,590 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 12 | $16,466 |
| Tresiba Flextouch U-100Insulin Degludec | 29 | $14,142 |
| Basaglar Kwikpen U-100Insulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 24 | $7,886 |
| Ezetimibe | 141 | $7,044 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $838 | $220,141215 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance, Tradjenta | $143 | $199,797193 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCMounjaro, Trulicity | $561 | $134,809118 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Symbicort | $392 | $117,419122 claims |
| AbbVieLinzess | $322 | $41,69552 claims |
| BayerKerendia | $316 | $32,33528 claims |
| PfizerEliquis, Paxlovid | $62 | $18,95025 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 90th percentile of 8,308 physician assistant providers in Texas.
Other physician assistant in Edinburg
- Cynthia TrickettDallas$1.3M
- Kristine KuceraMelissa$797K
- Selina SantosAustin$543K
- Matthew BrunoMcKinney$538K
- Anthony DerenciusSan Antonio$507K
- Brooke HodnickSouthlake$479K
- Holly GloverArlington$418K
- Kirk GautierAthens$416K
- Jaime RomanPlano$338K
- Michael WhiteDallas$276K
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.