Herschel Vargas, MD
Colon & Rectal Surgery · New Orleans, LANPI 1376507418
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $1,543 of the $2,337 with a category attached, or 66.0%. 8 manufacturers reported payments, led by Intuitive Surgical at 42.4% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $1,229 and has fallen 97.1% since, to $36 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for colon & rectal surgery clinicians in LA, where the typical reported total is $4,339.
Across 24 payments — averaging $97.37 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$992
- Davol Inc.$463
- Medtronic$233
- Biom'up France SAS$228
- Kerecis Limited$151
- Biom'up SA$150
- plus $121 from 2 others
Across 20 payments — averaging $652.74 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.$10K
- Shire North American Group Inc$3K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$79434%
- Food & beverage$1,54366%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Intuitive Surgical | 7 | $992 |
| Davol Inc. | 5 | $463 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 4 | $233 |
| Biom'up France SAS | 3 | $228 |
| Kerecis Limited | 1 | $151 |
| Biom'up SA | 2 | $150 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $86 |
| Dilon Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $35 |
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
$2,337 in reported general payments places this provider in the 40th percentile of 39 colon & rectal surgery 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sod Sulf-Potass Sulf-Mag SulfSodium, Potassium,mag Sulfates | 26 | $1,667 |
| Gavilyte-GPeg3350/Sod Sulf,bicarb,cl/Kcl | 51 | $787 |
| Gavilyte-CPeg3350/Sod Sulf,bicarb,cl/Kcl | 40 | $657 |
| Peg-3350 And ElectrolytesPeg3350/Sod Sulf,bicarb,cl/Kcl | 14 | $244 |
| Mupirocin | 18 | $112 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 22 | $80 |
| Chlorhexidine Gluconate | 19 | $62 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other colon & rectal surgery in New Orleans
- Jennifer ParuchNew Orleans$63K
- Charles WhitlowNew Orleans$22K
- Elyse Bevier-RawlsNew Orleans$18K
- Danielle KayNew Orleans$16K
- William JohnstonNew Orleans$15K
- Valentine NfonsamNew Orleans$15K
- Brian KannNew Orleans$10K
- Guy OrangioNew Orleans$4K
- Lindsey GadeNew Orleans$2K
- Danielle DooleyNew Orleans$2K
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.