Howard Hirsch, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Kenner, LANPI 1831144252
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 49 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. Stryker accounts for 65.2% of it on its own, with 19 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $1,032, 2.2 times the $475 reported in 2019. That places this record below the midpoint for orthopaedic surgery clinicians in LA, where the typical reported total is $3,274.
Across 49 payments — averaging $64.14 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Stryker$2K
- Joint Restoration Foundation, Inc.$188
- Zimmer Biomet$168
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$112
- Baudax Bio Inc.$80
- Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.$66
- plus $480 from 14 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$3,143100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Stryker(2 entities) | 24 | $2,050 |
| Joint Restoration Foundation, Inc. | 1 | $188 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 2 | $168 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 1 | $112 |
| Baudax Bio Inc. | 1 | $80 |
| Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. | 1 | $66 |
| Medacta USA, Inc. | 2 | $65 |
| Bioventus LLC | 3 | $64 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $55 |
| Fidia Pharma USA Inc. | 1 | $42 |
| Anika Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $35 |
| Acera Surgical, Inc. | 1 | $35 |
| Treace Medical Concepts, Inc. | 1 | $34 |
| Organogenesis Inc. | 1 | $33 |
| Sanara Medtech Inc. | 2 | $32 |
| Microport Orthopedics Inc | 1 | $23 |
| Heraeus Medical, LLC. | 1 | $16 |
| Solventum Corporation | 1 | $16 |
| Vertex | 1 | $15 |
| Saluda Medical Americas, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
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
$3,143 in reported general payments places this provider in the 45th percentile of 286 orthopaedic 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 74 | $657 |
| Colchicine | 18 | $571 |
| Naproxen | 46 | $424 |
| Methylprednisolone | 48 | $340 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 23 | $215 |
| Meloxicam | 20 | $38 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Kenner
- Vinod DasaKenner$1.9M
- Ian ElliottKenner$99K
- Christopher HarrodBaton Rouge$3M
- Pierce NunleyShreveport$1.8M
- Jorge IsazaBaton Rouge$1.2M
- Neil MakiThibodaux$620K
- Robert ZuraNew Orleans$597K
- Kevin McCarthyBaton Rouge$594K
- Timmothy RandellAlexandria$498K
- Fernando SanchezNew Orleans$484K
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.