Frederick Kushner, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Marrero, LANPI 1649236381
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $50,894 of the $61,975 with a category attached, or 82.1%. 23 manufacturers reported payments, led by Novo Nordisk at 36.8% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $21,548 and has fallen 99.4% since, to $135 in 2025. Among cardiovascular disease clinicians in LA 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 82 payments — averaging $755.80 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Novo Nordisk$23K
- Medtronic$12K
- AstraZeneca$10K
- Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc.$9K
- Endologix LLC$7K
- Novartis$447
- plus $800 from 17 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$50,89482%
- Speaking & faculty fees$9,30015%
- Travel & lodging$4981%
- Food & beverage$1,2842%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novo Nordisk | 6 | $22,813 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $12,000 |
| AstraZeneca | 2 | $9,765 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 1 | $9,300 |
| Endologix LLC | 1 | $6,850 |
| Novartis | 27 | $447 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 11 | $168 |
| Pfizer | 5 | $112 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 5 | $90 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 3 | $53 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 1 | $49 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 3 | $46 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $46 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 2 | $39 |
| Merck | 2 | $35 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 2 | $32 |
| Irhythm Technologies, Inc. | 2 | $29 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Amgen | 1 | $20 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 1 | $17 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $16 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 1 | $12 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 1 | $11 |
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
$61,975 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 281 cardiovascular disease 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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 108 | $87,897 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 32 | $27,789 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 22 | $17,996 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 12 | $11,366 |
| Praluent PenAlirocumab | 14 | $9,641 |
| NexlizetBempedoic Acid/Ezetimibe | 13 | $6,623 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 127 | $1,157 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 97 | $903 |
| Diltiazem 12hr ErDiltiazem Hcl | 12 | $785 |
| Ezetimibe | 67 | $764 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 114 | $611 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 98 | $494 |
| Losartan Potassium | 43 | $476 |
| Nitroglycerin | 29 | $418 |
| Digoxin | 12 | $287 |
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 | $112 | $87,897108 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $447 | $27,78932 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $168 | $11,36612 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 95th percentile of 281 cardiovascular disease providers in Louisiana.
Other cardiovascular disease in Marrero
- Carlos Rodriguez-FierroMarrero$13K
- Keith FerdinandNew Orleans$239K
- Carl LavieNew Orleans$228K
- Imran ChaudryMonroe$202K
- Corey FosterLake Charles$158K
- George KaramBaton Rouge$110K
- Harry HawthorneAlexandria$89K
- Mazen IqbalMonroe$82K
- Darrell SoletMorgan City$81K
- Ghiath MikdadiHammond$76K
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.