Joji Varghese, MD
Interventional Cardiology · Abilene, TXNPI 1053479683
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (45.7%), consulting fees and speaking fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. It is spread thinly across 41 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 22.4%. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $17,029 and has fallen 79.4% since, to $3,515 in 2025.
Across 722 payments — averaging $85.85 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$14K
- Shockwave Medical, Inc$14K
- Amgen$11K
- Edwards Lifesciences$10K
- Medtronic$3K
- Abiomed$2K
- plus $8K from 35 others
Across 41 payments — averaging $2289.11 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.
- Abbott$71K
- EKOS Corporation$13K
- Amgen$10K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$17,27528%
- Speaking & faculty fees$12,60020%
- Grants$1,1232%
- Travel & lodging$2,6524%
- Food & beverage$28,33646%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 119 | $13,873 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 32 | $13,728 |
| Amgen | 28 | $10,735 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 226 | $10,111 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 59 | $3,001 |
| Abiomed | 65 | $2,216 |
| Philips North America LLC | 5 | $1,817 |
| Boston Scientific | 56 | $1,715 |
| Penumbra, Inc. | 4 | $869 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 7 | $803 |
| AstraZeneca | 28 | $454 |
| Cardiovascular Systems Inc. | 10 | $431 |
| Cordis US CORP. | 3 | $249 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 2 | $198 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 15 | $194 |
| Pfizer | 10 | $162 |
| Novartis | 9 | $153 |
| Heartflow, Inc. | 1 | $134 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 2 | $129 |
| Silk Road Medical, Inc. | 1 | $125 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 8 | $117 |
| Cathworks, Inc. | 1 | $93 |
| EKOS Corporation | 1 | $81 |
| Merck | 5 | $75 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 5 | $72 |
| Recor Medical Inc | 2 | $66 |
| Teleflex LLC | 2 | $41 |
| Acist Medical Systems, Inc. | 1 | $39 |
| Novo Nordisk | 2 | $36 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 1 | $33 |
| Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC | 1 | $32 |
| Bayer | 1 | $29 |
| Merit Medical Systems Inc | 1 | $28 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 1 | $24 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 2 | $24 |
| Endotronix, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Braemar Manufacturing, LLC | 1 | $21 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| GSK | 1 | $14 |
| Coala Life Inc | 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.
- Shockwave IVL System with the Shockwave C2 Coronary IVL Catheter$12,602
- Repatha$10,353
- ESPRIT$3,150
- Omnilink Elite vascular stent system$2,500
- 3F$1,123
- AMPLATZER PICCOLO$1,050
- (9520) IGT Devices Undivided$1,025
- Indigo System$831
- PASCAL$703
- SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA$699
- MitraClip System$687
- Stellarex$600
- FlowTriever$596
- ClotTriever$596
- Watchman$506
- Impella$369
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve$365
- COROFLOW$269
- Vascular Lithotripsy$217
- Xience Sierra Coronary Stent System$217
How this compares
$61,986 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 686 interventional cardiology 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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 373 | $350,407 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 230 | $206,599 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 178 | $164,813 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 137 | $142,336 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 140 | $131,155 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 81 | $78,999 |
| Praluent PenAlirocumab | 32 | $18,328 |
| VascepaIcosapent Ethyl | 22 | $14,280 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 13 | $12,488 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 434 | $5,858 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 445 | $5,331 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 500 | $4,736 |
| Ranolazine ErRanolazine | 28 | $3,955 |
| Icosapent Ethyl | 15 | $3,827 |
| Ezetimibe | 159 | $2,807 |
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 | $162 | $350,407373 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Brilinta | $454 | $219,087243 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $194 | $164,813178 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $153 | $142,336137 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 85th percentile of 686 interventional cardiology providers in Texas.
Other interventional cardiology in Abilene
- Juan GranadaHouston$4.1M
- Vamsi KrishnaKyle$2M
- Jeffrey CarrTyler$1.9M
- John IsaacHouston$1.8M
- Robert ChiltonSan Antonio$1.3M
- Sameh SayfoPlano$1M
- Srinivasa PotluriPlano$781K
- Karim Al-AziziPlano$734K
- Robert StolerDallas$587K
- Peter MonteleoneKyle$461K
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.