Jose Tafur Soto, MD
Interventional Cardiology · New Orleans, LANPI 1730448960
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (29.8%), food and beverage and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 25 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medtronic at 51.5% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $11,546, 8.5 times the $1,357 reported in 2019.
Across 281 payments — averaging $155.48 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$22K
- Edwards Lifesciences$15K
- Boston Scientific$857
- Abiomed$835
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$742
- Johnson & Johnson$712
- plus $3K from 19 others
Across 57 payments — averaging $6579.52 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.
- Edwards Lifesciences$354K
- Abiomed$14K
- Boston Scientific$8K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$8,90020%
- Speaking & faculty fees$13,04130%
- Travel & lodging$10,59624%
- Food & beverage$11,04525%
- Entertainment$1090%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 81 | $22,486 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 52 | $15,184 |
| Boston Scientific | 12 | $857 |
| Abiomed | 18 | $835 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 13 | $742 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 44 | $712 |
| Philips North America LLC | 9 | $699 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 5 | $511 |
| Abbott | 14 | $501 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 6 | $289 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 1 | $161 |
| Novo Nordisk | 2 | $149 |
| Surmodics, Inc. | 1 | $134 |
| AstraZeneca | 7 | $113 |
| Stryker | 2 | $80 |
| Amgen | 4 | $79 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 2 | $38 |
| Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 1 | $18 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $17 |
| Inquis Medical, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 1 | $16 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 1 | $11 |
| Acutus Medical, Inc. | 1 | $9 |
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.
- COREVALVE EVOLUT R$19,389
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve$11,951
- CoreValve Evolut$1,362
- EVOQUE$618
- Impella$388
- GENERAL - STRUCTURAL HEART$349
- GORE CARDIOFORM Septal Occluder$291
- Resolute$241
- LifeVest$216
- SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA$190
- FLOWTRIEVER CATHETER, S$161
- CT THROMBECTOMY SYSTEM KIT$161
- Sentinel$150
- CARDIOFORM Septal Occluder$145
- PASCAL$139
- IN.PACT Admiral$134
- Pounce Thrombectomy System$134
- Pounce Venous Thrombectomy System$134
- SYMPLICITY G3$127
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra Transcatheter Heart Valve$124
How this compares
$43,690 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 171 interventional cardiology 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 15 | $7,936 |
| Fesoterodine Fumarate ErFesoterodine Fumarate | 13 | $965 |
| Ranolazine ErRanolazine | 13 | $772 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 31 | $512 |
| Amlodipine-ValsartanAmlodipine Besylate/Valsartan | 13 | $495 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 75 | $494 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 14 | $301 |
| Sertraline Hcl | 13 | $273 |
| Trazodone Hcl | 12 | $252 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 17 | $194 |
| Isosorbide Mononitrate ErIsosorbide Mononitrate | 26 | $184 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 15 | $169 |
| Pravastatin Sodium | 20 | $166 |
| Lisinopril | 21 | $166 |
| Nitroglycerin | 18 | $155 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other interventional cardiology in New Orleans
- Rajan PatelNew Orleans$517K
- James JenkinsNew Orleans$235K
- Stephen RameeNew Orleans$56K
- Jose WileyNew Orleans$34K
- Zach RozenbaumNew Orleans$18K
- Aashish GuptaNew Orleans$18K
- Craig WalkerHouma$5M
- Denzil MoraesBaton Rouge$901K
- Ankur LodhaLafayette$640K
- Agostino IngraldiLafayette$315K
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.