Clara Higgins, DO
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 43 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 21 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 14.4% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. That places this record below the midpoint for surgery clinicians in DE, where the typical reported total is $1,345.
Across 43 payments — averaging $23.11 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$143
- Davol Inc.$132
- Boston Scientific$116
- Novo Nordisk$96
- Johnson & Johnson$78
- AbbVie$76
- plus $353 from 15 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$994100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 2 | $143 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $132 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $116 |
| Novo Nordisk | 7 | $96 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 4 | $78 |
| AbbVie | 3 | $76 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 5 | $67 |
| Zyla Life Sciences, Inc. | 3 | $39 |
| GSK | 2 | $31 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 2 | $28 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $27 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 2 | $27 |
| BD | 1 | $23 |
| Merck | 1 | $18 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $14 |
| Sanofi Pasteur Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Bayer | 1 | $13 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 1 | $13 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. | 1 | $12 |
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
$994 in reported general payments places this provider in the 40th percentile of 89 surgery providers in Delaware.
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.
Other surgery in Lewes
- Erik StancofskiLewes$19K
- Mark FaccioloLewes$17K
- Ramakrishna TatineniLewes$7K
- John TysonLewes$6K
- David NehringLewes$677
- Peter SantoroWilmington$166K
- Karen BarbosaRehoboth Beach$60K
- Lydell LettsomeDover$32K
- M Lisa AtteberyRehoboth Beach$22K
- Veronica Bustillo-ArucaNewark$15K
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.