David Pointer, MD
Surgical Oncology · New Orleans, LANPI 1356601645
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (57.0%), food and beverage and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 17 manufacturers reported payments, led by Histosonics, Inc. at 43.2% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $2,157, more than ten times the $47 reported in 2020.
Across 29 payments — averaging $126.02 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Histosonics, Inc.$2K
- Intuitive Surgical$805
- Medtronic$282
- AstraZeneca$231
- Intera Oncology, Inc$202
- Trisalus Life Sciences, Inc.$160
- plus $396 from 11 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$2,08357%
- Food & beverage$1,49541%
- Education$682%
- Gifts$90%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Histosonics, Inc. | 3 | $1,580 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 4 | $805 |
| Medtronic | 5 | $282 |
| AstraZeneca | 2 | $231 |
| Intera Oncology, Inc | 1 | $202 |
| Trisalus Life Sciences, Inc. | 1 | $160 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $70 |
| Conmed Corporation | 1 | $50 |
| Covidien LP | 2 | $47 |
| AbbVie | 2 | $40 |
| Biotissue Holdings Inc. | 1 | $37 |
| Organogenesis Inc. | 1 | $31 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| Incyte Corporation | 1 | $26 |
| Bayer | 1 | $23 |
| Eisai Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | 1 | $19 |
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.
- Da Vinci Surgical System$777
- INTERA$202
- TRINAV INFUSION SYSTEM$160
- LigaSure$145
How this compares
$3,655 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 26 surgical oncology providers in Louisiana.
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 surgical oncology in New Orleans
- Nathan BoltonNew Orleans$6K
- Shawn McKinneyNew Orleans$4K
- Amy RivereNew Orleans$4K
- Omeed MoavenNew Orleans$3K
- Nicole WalkerNew Orleans$3K
- Mohamed ShamaNew Orleans$2K
- Saad Al AwwadNew Orleans$2K
- Russell BrownNew Orleans$2K
- Jane WeyNew Orleans$1K
- George FuhrmanNew Orleans$675
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.