Eric Simon, MD
Nephrology · New Orleans, LANPI 1689765752
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 98.2% of the total across 30 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 15 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 17.3% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. That places this record below the midpoint for nephrology clinicians in LA, where the typical reported total is $1,900.
Across 30 payments — averaging $44.53 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Amgen$231
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$148
- Novartis$129
- Akebia Therapeutics Inc$128
- Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC$121
- Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc.$106
- plus $472 from 9 others
Across 1 payment — averaging $12,566 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.
- AbbVie$13K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,31198%
- Education$252%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Amgen | 2 | $231 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 7 | $148 |
| Novartis | 1 | $129 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 3 | $128 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 1 | $121 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 4 | $106 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 1 | $100 |
| Bayer | 1 | $95 |
| Nxstage Medical, Inc. | 1 | $73 |
| Vertex | 1 | $55 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 3 | $50 |
| Sanofi | 2 | $40 |
| Idorsia Pharmaceuticals US Inc | 1 | $22 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 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.
How this compares
$1,336 in reported general payments places this provider in the 40th percentile of 206 nephrology 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.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 12 | $689 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 14 | $62 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other nephrology in New Orleans
- Juan Carlos VelezNew Orleans$282K
- Michael TouchyNew Orleans$56K
- Juan MedauraNew Orleans$14K
- Farshid YazdiNew Orleans$14K
- Mihran NaljayanNew Orleans$10K
- Rhea BhargavaNew Orleans$9K
- April FoxNew Orleans$8K
- Myra KleinpeterNew Orleans$7K
- Joshua LowentrittNew Orleans$7K
- Angela ReginelliNew Orleans$6K
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.