Christopher Romero
Internal Medicine · Houston, TXNPI 1053671263
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by travel and lodging: $8,552 of the $11,385 with a category attached, or 75.1%. 7 manufacturers reported payments, led by Eli Lilly at 39.7% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $9,035 and has fallen 89.6% since, to $944 in 2025. Among internal medicine clinicians in TX 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 97 payments — averaging $117.37 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Eli Lilly$5K
- Modernatx, Inc.$3K
- AstraZeneca$2K
- Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH$1K
- Novo Nordisk$100
- Merck$65
- plus $50 from 1 others
Across 777 payments — averaging $10,866 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.
- Modernatx, Inc.$2.8M
- Pfizer$2.1M
- Eli Lilly$947K
- AstraZeneca$794K
- Valneva Austria GmbH$632K
- Boehringer Ingelheim$592K
- plus $528K from 10 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$8,55275%
- Food & beverage$2,83325%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Eli Lilly | 50 | $4,520 |
| Modernatx, Inc. | 17 | $3,401 |
| AstraZeneca | 14 | $1,908 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH | 11 | $1,341 |
| Novo Nordisk | 2 | $100 |
| Merck | 2 | $65 |
| Genentech, Inc. | 1 | $50 |
How this compares
$11,385 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 7,675 internal medicine providers in Texas.
Other internal medicine in Houston
- Hussein TawbiHouston$365K
- Hans LeeHouston$327K
- Tapan KadiaHouston$311K
- Nitin JainHouston$281K
- Krina PatelHouston$255K
- Nicholas ShortHouston$247K
- Naveen PemmarajuHouston$230K
- Mariana Chavez MacgregorHouston$188K
- Shumei KatoHouston$180K
- Sukhdeep BasraHouston$168K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.