Cathleen Bairey-Merz, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Los Angeles, CANPI 1447238324
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $1,219,534 of the $1,242,799 with a category attached, or 98.1%. Irhythm Technologies, Inc. accounts for 99.9% of it on its own, with 5 other manufacturers making up the rest. Among cardiovascular disease clinicians in CA with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 157 payments — averaging $7915.92 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Irhythm Technologies, Inc.$1.2M
- Boston Scientific$184
- Abbott$172
- Cathworks, Inc.$152
- Akcea Therapeutics, Inc.$111
- Astrazeneca UK Limited$38
Across 11 payments — averaging $13,242 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.
- Philips North America LLC$77K
- GE HealthCare$34K
- Abbott$33K
- Sanofi US Services Inc.$2K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$1,219,53498%
- Travel & lodging$19,6022%
- Food & beverage$3,2080%
- Gifts$4560%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Irhythm Technologies, Inc. | 151 | $1,242,143 |
| Boston Scientific | 2 | $184 |
| Abbott | 1 | $172 |
| Cathworks, Inc. | 1 | $152 |
| Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $111 |
| Astrazeneca UK Limited | 1 | $38 |
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
$1,242,799 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 2,184 cardiovascular disease 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 27 | $22,899 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 12 | $18,420 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 13 | $12,325 |
| Praluent PenAlirocumab | 13 | $10,827 |
| NexletolBempedoic Acid | 13 | $6,897 |
| Eplerenone | 22 | $2,265 |
| Ranolazine ErRanolazine | 13 | $1,812 |
| Ezetimibe | 37 | $1,448 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 91 | $1,417 |
| Telmisartan | 35 | $922 |
| Nitroglycerin PatchNitroglycerin | 18 | $914 |
| Diltiazem 24hr Er (Cd)Diltiazem Hcl | 27 | $695 |
| Losartan Potassium | 48 | $524 |
| Verapamil ErVerapamil Hcl | 13 | $485 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 73 | $435 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other cardiovascular disease in Los Angeles
- Karol WatsonLos Angeles$553K
- Jamil AboulhosnLos Angeles$423K
- Darren BermanLos Angeles$392K
- Arash NayeriLos Angeles$281K
- Gregg FonarowLos Angeles$260K
- Martha GulatiLos Angeles$141K
- Ted LoveHillsborough$102.8M
- Paul KurthSanta Barbara$6.1M
- Jason RogersSacramento$4.4M
- Matthew BudoffTorrance$3.6M
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.