Christopher Chu, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Los Angeles, CANPI 1326205873
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $16,239 of the $25,475 with a category attached, or 63.7%. 35 manufacturers reported payments, led by Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. at 28.8% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $10,516, 9.7 times the $1,082 reported in 2019.
Across 734 payments — averaging $34.71 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$7K
- Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.$3K
- AstraZeneca$2K
- Bayer$2K
- Novartis$2K
- Edwards Lifesciences$1K
- plus $8K from 29 others
Across 1 payment — averaging $43,031 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.
- Albireo Pharma, Inc.$43K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$7,30029%
- Travel & lodging$1,4616%
- Food & beverage$16,23964%
- Education$4762%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 17 | $7,329 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 42 | $2,992 |
| AstraZeneca | 84 | $2,316 |
| Bayer | 111 | $2,303 |
| Novartis | 142 | $1,881 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 22 | $1,020 |
| Amgen | 48 | $858 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 31 | $845 |
| Boston Scientific | 12 | $843 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 26 | $754 |
| Pfizer | 42 | $720 |
| Abiomed | 20 | $460 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 11 | $413 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 27 | $383 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 19 | $380 |
| Merck | 16 | $344 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 13 | $296 |
| Mannkind Corporation | 1 | $177 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 8 | $158 |
| Medtronic | 4 | $144 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, PLC | 6 | $144 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. | 6 | $126 |
| Novo Nordisk | 4 | $95 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 5 | $92 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 4 | $87 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 3 | $72 |
| Elutia, Inc. | 2 | $52 |
| Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $33 |
| Kestra Medical Technology Services, Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 1 | $27 |
| Bridgebio Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $26 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $22 |
| GSK | 1 | $20 |
| Covidien LP | 1 | $18 |
| Gilead | 1 | $17 |
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.
- Livmarli$6,804
- OPSUMIT$2,250
- UPTRAVI$2,250
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve$358
- EMBLEM MRI S-ICD$272
- LifeVest$255
- XARELTO$245
- BRILINTA$233
- AFREZZA$177
- LUX-Dx Insertable Cardiac Monitor$163
- Repatha$150
- EMBLEM$145
- LEQVIO$135
- ENTRESTO$125
- FARXIGA$125
How this compares
$25,475 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th 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 |
|---|---|---|
| VyndamaxTafamidis | 16 | $414,193 |
| EliquisApixaban | 297 | $289,616 |
| AdempasRiociguat | 16 | $207,060 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 204 | $187,226 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 137 | $178,666 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 131 | $115,478 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 128 | $97,164 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 83 | $85,977 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 79 | $70,816 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 54 | $60,029 |
| FuroscixFurosemide | 11 | $52,479 |
| Repatha PushtronexEvolocumab | 74 | $50,869 |
| WegovySemaglutide | 24 | $35,091 |
| InpefaSotagliflozin | 44 | $25,419 |
| KerendiaFinerenone | 30 | $21,855 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PfizerVyndamax, Eliquis | $720 | $703,809313 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Brilinta | $2,316 | $284,390332 claims |
| BayerAdempas, Kerendia | $2,303 | $228,91546 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $1,881 | $178,666137 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $413 | $115,478131 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic, Wegovy | $95 | $95,12078 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $845 | $85,97783 claims |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc.Furoscix | $92 | $52,47911 claims |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Inpefa | $383 | $25,41944 claims |
| MerckVerquvo | $344 | $19,96018 claims |
| AmgenCorlanor | $858 | $19,54231 claims |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLCMultaq | $158 | $16,78418 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 85th percentile of 2,184 cardiovascular disease providers in California.
Other cardiovascular disease in Los Angeles
- Cathleen Bairey-MerzLos Angeles$1.2M
- 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
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.