Dennis Unks, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Erie, PANPI 1023014149
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Medtronic accounts for 60.2% of it on its own, with 10 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $1,213 and has fallen 97.0% since, to $36 in 2025.
Across 31 payments — averaging $66.12 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$1K
- Boehringer Ingelheim$336
- Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc.$119
- Novartis$75
- Biosense Webster, Inc.$72
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$55
- plus $159 from 5 others
Across 24 payments — averaging $9656.38 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.
- Amgen$118K
- Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co.kg$49K
- Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH$48K
- AstraZeneca$17K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,02850%
- Food & beverage$1,02150%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 5 | $1,233 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 6 | $336 |
| Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc. | 2 | $119 |
| Novartis | 2 | $75 |
| Biosense Webster, Inc. | 2 | $72 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 4 | $55 |
| Amgen | 3 | $47 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 2 | $37 |
| Pfizer | 2 | $30 |
| AstraZeneca | 2 | $26 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 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.
How this compares
$2,050 in reported general payments places this provider in the 55th percentile of 1,250 cardiovascular disease providers in Pennsylvania.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 42 | $41,381 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 40 | $36,273 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 23 | $26,413 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 173 | $2,509 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 124 | $1,446 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 130 | $1,285 |
| Bumetanide | 32 | $885 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 67 | $779 |
| Losartan Potassium | 99 | $734 |
| Carvedilol | 74 | $702 |
| Prasugrel Hcl | 12 | $642 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 85 | $472 |
| Nitroglycerin | 36 | $444 |
| Isosorbide Mononitrate ErIsosorbide Mononitrate | 25 | $353 |
| Potassium Chloride | 32 | $273 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PfizerEliquis | $30 | $41,38142 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $75 | $36,27340 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $336 | $26,41323 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 55th percentile of 1,250 cardiovascular disease providers in Pennsylvania.
Other cardiovascular disease in Erie
- Hemal GadaWormleysburg$1.8M
- Benjamin KalsmithPgh$1.7M
- Peter KoweyWynnewood$1.5M
- Paul ForfiaPhiladelphia$1.2M
- Quang BuiPhiladelphia$933K
- Rhian DaviesYork$853K
- Sarang MangalmurtiBryn Mawr$728K
- Sabahat BokhariAllentown$578K
- George GabrielPittsburgh$563K
- Rajesh DaveCamp Hill$442K
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.