Erik Huezo
Acute Care · Houston, TXNPI 1053943050
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 281 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 30 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 12.2% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $1,780 and has fallen 86.3% since, to $244 in 2025. Among acute care clinicians in TX with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 281 payments — averaging $24.07 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.$827
- AstraZeneca$685
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$652
- Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc.$495
- Johnson & Johnson$437
- Novartis$427
- plus $3K from 24 others
Across 1 payment — averaging $149.16 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.
- Abiomed$149
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$6,762100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 29 | $827 |
| AstraZeneca | 22 | $685 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 19 | $652 |
| Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc. | 10 | $495 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 21 | $437 |
| Novartis | 20 | $427 |
| Merck | 17 | $365 |
| Amgen | 22 | $305 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 15 | $304 |
| Novo Nordisk | 14 | $292 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 11 | $287 |
| Pfizer | 14 | $284 |
| Bayer | 13 | $233 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 9 | $158 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 7 | $151 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $125 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 6 | $124 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 5 | $101 |
| Boston Scientific | 4 | $92 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 6 | $90 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, PLC | 3 | $71 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. | 3 | $63 |
| Irhythm Technologies, Inc. | 3 | $47 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $30 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 1 | $24 |
| Kestra Medical Technology Services, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| United Therapeutics Corporation | 1 | $17 |
| Sandoz | 1 | $15 |
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.
- OPTIMIZER SMART SYSTEM$306
- FARXIGA$255
- EXPAREL$125
- UPTRAVI$120
- OPSUMIT$120
How this compares
$6,762 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 2,323 acute care providers in Texas.
Other acute care in Houston
- Afton DickersonHouston$27K
- Eleanor WeltgeHouston$25K
- Michelle JohnstonHouston$18K
- Amanda BergeronHouston$12K
- Nicole OnaHouston$12K
- Prashanth AnumandlaHouston$12K
- Ken ChanHouston$11K
- Brittney RichardHouston$11K
- Antonio Paolo AlmacenHouston$11K
- Laura WuesteHouston$11K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.