Frank Meriano, MD
Gastroenterology · Houston, TXNPI 1699751362
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 478 payments — averaging $19.73 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$3K
- Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC$2K
- Johnson & Johnson$974
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.$632
- Merck$357
- Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.$226
- plus $2K from 29 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$9,430100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 178 | $3,450 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 105 | $1,605 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 51 | $974 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 27 | $632 |
| Merck | 18 | $357 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 11 | $226 |
| Pfizer | 7 | $186 |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | 9 | $184 |
| Aimmune Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $146 |
| Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc | 7 | $145 |
| Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $139 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 6 | $124 |
| Nestle Healthcare Nutrition Inc. | 5 | $118 |
| Boston Scientific | 2 | $107 |
| Braintree Laboratories, Inc. | 5 | $102 |
| Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC | 1 | $99 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 6 | $94 |
| Shionogi Inc | 4 | $82 |
| Redhill Biopharma Inc. | 5 | $79 |
| Gilead | 3 | $69 |
| Fujifilm Healthcare Americas Corporation | 1 | $50 |
| Romark Laboratories, LC | 1 | $45 |
| Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $44 |
| Ambu Inc. | 4 | $39 |
| Sanofi | 1 | $39 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 2 | $39 |
| Medtronic | 2 | $37 |
| Vivus LLC | 2 | $36 |
| Amgen | 1 | $35 |
| Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 2 | $33 |
| Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $30 |
| QOL Medical, LLC | 1 | $25 |
| Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Olympus America Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Celltrion USA 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
$9,430 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 1,350 gastroenterology 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 |
|---|---|---|
| CreonLipase/Protease/Amylase | 13 | $30,738 |
| RelistorMethylnaltrexone Bromide | 12 | $29,964 |
| Mesalamine | 18 | $19,133 |
| TrulancePlecanatide | 24 | $13,641 |
| LinzessLinaclotide | 15 | $13,581 |
| ClenpiqSod Picosulf/Mag Ox/Citric Ac | 41 | $7,071 |
| Dexlansoprazole DrDexlansoprazole | 18 | $5,575 |
| Omeprazole | 314 | $5,024 |
| Sod Sulf-Potass Sulf-Mag SulfSodium, Potassium,mag Sulfates | 63 | $4,015 |
| Esomeprazole Magnesium | 30 | $2,219 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 78 | $1,540 |
| Famotidine | 35 | $864 |
| Sucralfate | 33 | $800 |
| Dicyclomine Hcl | 19 | $486 |
| Budesonide DrBudesonide | 11 | $418 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVieCreon, Linzess | $3,450 | $44,31928 claims |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLCRelistor, Trulance | $1,605 | $43,60536 claims |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.Clenpiq | $226 | $7,07141 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 70th percentile of 1,350 gastroenterology providers in Texas.
Other gastroenterology in Houston
- Mazen NoureddinHouston$6.1M
- James MaherHouston$5.3M
- Uma MohanHouston$5M
- John VierlingHouston$2.8M
- Bincy AbrahamHouston$2.5M
- Jason HouHouston$2.3M
- Jignesh ShahHouston$1.7M
- Mouhamad Al-SabbaghHouston$1.6M
- Mohamed OthmanHouston$1.6M
- Harry OjeasHouston$1.5M
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.