Has George Cholankeril, MD received payments from drug or device companies?

Yes. Drug and device makers reported $33,504 in general payments to George Cholankeril, MD across 38 transactions between 2019–2025. Most Open Payments records nationally are meals worth under $20; a reported payment is not evidence of wrongdoing.

Does a payment mean George Cholankeril, MD did something wrong?

No. Federal law requires drug and device makers to report almost every transfer of value to a physician, including a $14 sandwich at a lunch presentation. Consulting fees, research funding and royalties to device inventors are ordinary, legal parts of medicine. This site reports what was disclosed; it makes no allegation.

Where does this information about George Cholankeril, MD come from?

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Payments come from Open Payments, published under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. Billing and prescribing figures come from the Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners and Part D Prescriber public use files for 2024.

George Cholankeril, MD

Gastroenterology · Houston, TXNPI 1154760155

Payments from drug & device makers

What this record shows

This record is dominated by speaking fees: $26,042 of the $33,504 with a category attached, or 77.7%. Novo Nordisk accounts for 96.0% of it on its own, with 10 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $29,402, more than ten times the $70 reported in 2021. Among gastroenterology clinicians in TX with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.

$33,504in general payments, 2019–2025

Across 38 payments — averaging $881.69 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.

Novo Nordisk$32K
Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC$256
Gilead$223
Cook Medical LLC$204
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals$187
AbbVie$150
plus $316 from 5 others

$40,225in research payments, 2019–2025

Across 6 payments — averaging $6704.17 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.

Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.$40K

What the payments were for

Consulting fees$2,7138%
Speaking & faculty fees$26,04278%
Travel & lodging$2,2777%
Food & beverage$2,4727%

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	20	$32,169
Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC	2	$256
Gilead	2	$223
Cook Medical LLC	2	$204
Madrigal Pharmaceuticals	2	$187
AbbVie	2	$150
Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc.	1	$120
Mirum Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	2	$80
Orphalan Inc	2	$48
Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.	2	$46
Alcresta Therapeutics, Inc.	1	$21

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

$33,504 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 1,350 gastroenterology providers in Texas.

See all gastroenterology providers in Texas →

Medicare billing

Part B allowed, 2024

$15,082

Medicare patients

Services billed

106

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
Ursodiol	21	$4,379
Mycophenolate Mofetil	14	$221
Carvedilol	12	$49

Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.

Other gastroenterology in Houston

Bincy AbrahamHouston$1.6M
Mazen NoureddinHouston$1.5M
Stephen PappasHouston$1.4M
Brooks CashHouston$867K
Mohamed OthmanHouston$777K
Isaac RaijmanHouston$565K
Kalpesh PatelHouston$382K
Victor Ankoma-SeyHouston$340K
John VierlingHouston$270K
George TriadafilopoulosHouston$192K

See the full list for Texas →

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.

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