Gary Sheppard
Internal Medicine · Houston, TXNPI 1174502702
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 370 payments — averaging $27.81 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Genentech USA, Inc.$1K
- AstraZeneca$1K
- Amgen$1K
- Novo Nordisk$829
- Lilly USA, LLC$647
- Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC$467
- plus $5K from 30 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$1,39014%
- Travel & lodging$240%
- Food & beverage$8,82386%
- Education$521%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 2 | $1,414 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 53 | $1,158 |
| Amgen | 43 | $1,071 |
| Novo Nordisk | 29 | $829 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 38 | $647 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 22 | $467 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 23 | $417 |
| Pfizer | 18 | $368 |
| GSK | 15 | $285 |
| Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. | 3 | $277 |
| Merck | 16 | $255 |
| Sanofi | 2 | $255 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 2 | $232 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 13 | $231 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 13 | $225 |
| Exact Sciences | 11 | $222 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 7 | $218 |
| Abbott | 5 | $194 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 9 | $167 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 8 | $155 |
| Novartis | 5 | $152 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $149 |
| Gilead | 1 | $125 |
| Dexcom, Inc. | 5 | $119 |
| Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. | 1 | $109 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 1 | $100 |
| Bayer | 5 | $99 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 5 | $84 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 4 | $62 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $45 |
| Azurity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $37 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $29 |
| Seqirus USA Inc | 1 | $28 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 1 | $23 |
| Cardinal Health 200 LLC | 1 | $21 |
| Idorsia Pharmaceuticals US Inc | 1 | $19 |
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
$10,288 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 7,675 internal medicine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 52 | $43,501 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 28 | $29,583 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 28 | $26,935 |
| Basaglar Kwikpen U-100Insulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 61 | $24,377 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 18 | $24,277 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 36 | $15,922 |
| JanumetSitagliptin Phos/Metformin Hcl | 11 | $14,950 |
| TradjentaLinagliptin | 24 | $14,904 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 19 | $13,579 |
| Breztri AerosphereBudesonide/Glycopyr/Formoterol | 15 | $8,579 |
| Anoro ElliptaUmeclidinium Brm/Vilanterol Tr | 14 | $6,700 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 11 | $6,381 |
| Lantus SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 29 | $5,278 |
| Toujeo SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 11 | $4,457 |
| Novolog FlexpenInsulin Aspart | 28 | $4,270 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance, Tradjenta | $417 | $58,40576 claims |
| MerckJanuvia, Janumet | $255 | $44,53339 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $829 | $26,93528 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCTrulicity | $647 | $24,27718 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Breztri Aerosphere | $1,158 | $22,15834 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $218 | $15,92236 claims |
| GSKAnoro Ellipta, Trelegy Ellipta | $285 | $13,08125 claims |
| AbbVieSynthroid | $84 | $1,75226 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 90th percentile of 7,675 internal medicine providers in Texas.
Other internal medicine in Houston
- Jan BurgerHouston$47.3M
- Nitin JainHouston$33.2M
- Aung NaingHouston$30.6M
- Preetesh JainHouston$19.5M
- Paolo StratiHouston$19.2M
- Nicholas ShortHouston$17.6M
- Isabella GlitzaHouston$14.8M
- Murtaza MussajiHouston$13.1M
- Hussein TawbiHouston$12.6M
- Hans LeeHouston$11.7M
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.