Frank Lester, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Mobile, ALNPI 1871541482
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.8% of the total across 284 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 27 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 17.0% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $1,478 and has fallen 80.3% since, to $292 in 2025.
Across 284 payments — averaging $16.91 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Boehringer Ingelheim$815
- Johnson & Johnson$666
- Amgen$474
- Novartis$429
- Bayer$351
- Pfizer$303
- plus $2K from 21 others
Across 62 payments — averaging $1529.35 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.
- American Regent$48K
- Novartis$18K
- Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH$13K
- Janssen Research & Development, LLC$12K
- Ardelyx, Inc.$3K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$4,792100%
- Education$100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 45 | $815 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 42 | $666 |
| Amgen | 37 | $474 |
| Novartis | 24 | $429 |
| Bayer | 16 | $351 |
| Pfizer | 24 | $303 |
| GSK | 15 | $224 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 11 | $207 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 8 | $189 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 3 | $147 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 3 | $146 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 11 | $131 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 7 | $115 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 6 | $108 |
| Novo Nordisk | 5 | $82 |
| Exact Sciences | 4 | $74 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 4 | $73 |
| Merck | 4 | $52 |
| Gilead | 4 | $48 |
| Sanofi Pasteur Inc. | 2 | $42 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 3 | $41 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $17 |
| Grifols USA, LLC | 1 | $15 |
| Dexcom, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Melinta Therapeutics, LLC | 1 | $13 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA | 1 | $12 |
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
$4,802 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 292 cardiovascular disease providers in Alabama.
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 | 185 | $182,503 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 130 | $131,866 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 89 | $91,114 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 28 | $27,701 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 26 | $24,413 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 31 | $21,091 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 18 | $16,819 |
| LinzessLinaclotide | 18 | $15,479 |
| Pravastatin Sodium | 384 | $8,917 |
| Levothyroxine Sodium | 648 | $8,666 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 598 | $8,290 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 309 | $7,264 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 541 | $7,250 |
| Repatha PushtronexEvolocumab | 12 | $6,999 |
| Potassium Chloride | 346 | $6,631 |
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 | $303 | $182,503185 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance, Tradjenta | $815 | $138,435143 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $666 | $91,11489 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $82 | $27,70128 claims |
| MerckJanuvia | $52 | $24,41326 claims |
| AbbVieLinzess, Synthroid | $189 | $19,51560 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta | $224 | $16,81918 claims |
| AstraZenecaBrilinta | $17 | $6,31012 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 65th percentile of 292 cardiovascular disease providers in Alabama.
Other cardiovascular disease in Mobile
- Dennis ThomasMobile$894K
- Michael RihnerMobile$13K
- Ghulam AwanMobile$9K
- David FienoAlabaster$421K
- Vikram AroraBirmingham$271K
- Jason ThompsonBirmingham$248K
- Michael WilenskyBirmingham$241K
- Mustafa AhmedBirmingham$218K
- Frederick GaskinBirmingham$115K
- Pankaj AroraBirmingham$83K
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.