Erica Hightower, MD
Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism · Houston, TXNPI 1629198726
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 930 payments — averaging $37.00 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC$11K
- Mannkind Corporation$5K
- Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc.$2K
- Medtronic$2K
- Insulet Corporation$1K
- Novo Nordisk$1K
- plus $11K from 54 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$3,40010%
- Speaking & faculty fees$10,14229%
- Travel & lodging$3,1289%
- Food & beverage$17,52951%
- Education$880%
- Gifts$1190%
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.
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.
- SOLIQUA 100/33$6,273
- AFREZZA$4,435
- TOUJEO$3,096
- MINIMED 780G$1,532
- t:slim X2 insulin pump$1,200
- t-slim insulin pump$778
- iLet Bionic Pancreas$700
- DEXCOM G6 TRANSMITTER$453
- TZIELD$248
- EVENITY$234
- CeQur Simplicity$164
- Ozempic$157
- TWIIST$150
- AMVUTTRA$125
- Veozah$125
- NEXLIZET$125
- NEXLETOL$125
- Minimed 670G System$124
- MOUNJARO$122
- INVOKANA$118
How this compares
$34,406 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 658 endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism providers in Texas.
See all endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism providers in Texas →
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 |
|---|---|---|
| OzempicSemaglutide | 279 | $425,853 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 228 | $283,855 |
| Omnipod 5 Dexg7g6 Pods (Gen 5)Insulin Pump Cart,auto,bt,g6/7 | 124 | $160,266 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 91 | $123,110 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 77 | $122,426 |
| Xultophy 100-3.6Insulin Degludec/Liraglutide | 68 | $107,252 |
| Tresiba Flextouch U-200Insulin Degludec | 77 | $90,982 |
| Toujeo Max SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 80 | $87,733 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 63 | $73,236 |
| Humalog Kwikpen U-200Insulin Lispro | 22 | $65,635 |
| Soliqua 100-33Insulin Glargine/Lixisenatide | 39 | $52,487 |
| Fiasp FlextouchInsulin Aspart (Niacinamide) | 71 | $45,632 |
| TradjentaLinagliptin | 32 | $36,787 |
| RybelsusSemaglutide | 12 | $28,280 |
| GlyxambiEmpagliflozin/Linagliptin | 27 | $27,277 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novo NordiskOzempic, Xultophy 100-3.6, Rybelsus, Fiasp, Novolog | $1,264 | $594,536397 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCMounjaro, Trulicity, Humalog, Lyumjev, Baqsimi | $761 | $450,707415 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance, Tradjenta, Glyxambi, Synjardy Xr | $676 | $207,166168 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $340 | $73,23663 claims |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLCSoliqua 100-33 | $10,856 | $52,48739 claims |
| MerckJanumet Xr | $296 | $26,06720 claims |
| Mannkind CorporationAfrezza | $5,471 | $15,96415 claims |
| AbbVieSynthroid | $229 | $4,12543 claims |
| Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLCLevothyroxine Sodium | $95 | $2,866246 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 75th percentile of 658 endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism providers in Texas.
Other endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism in Houston
- Maria CabanillasHouston$16.4M
- Damaris VegaHouston$12.3M
- Amer Al KaradshehHouston$8.8M
- Amir HassanHouston$5.2M
- Camilo JimenezHouston$5M
- Rocio HarbisonHouston$3.2M
- Gerardo BuesoHouston$1.2M
- Veena WatweHouston$976K
- Andres SplenserHouston$923K
- Prashant KoshyHouston$795K
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.