Joseph Lugo, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Lake Charles, LANPI 1770582223
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by other: $2,653 of the $4,030 with a category attached, or 65.8%. Kls-martin L.p. accounts for 65.8% of it on its own, with 17 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $2,788 and has fallen 91.3% since, to $241 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in LA, where the typical reported total is $4,896.
Across 46 payments — averaging $87.62 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Kls-martin L.p.$3K
- Edwards Lifesciences$323
- Medtronic$254
- Endologix LLC$179
- Johnson & Johnson$128
- Novartis$115
- plus $378 from 12 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,37734%
- Other$2,65366%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kls-martin L.p. | 1 | $2,653 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 5 | $323 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 7 | $254 |
| Endologix LLC | 1 | $179 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 5 | $128 |
| Novartis | 7 | $115 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 3 | $72 |
| Abiomed | 3 | $67 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 3 | $43 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 3 | $41 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 1 | $38 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $28 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Abbott | 1 | $17 |
| Silk Road Medical, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Amgen | 1 | $13 |
| Kerecis Limited | 1 | $10 |
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.
- _LEVEL ONE THORACIC, STERILE, PLATE, RIB, LOCKING, X SHP, 2.3 MM SCREW, 32 HOLE,$2,653
- Torus Stent Graft System$179
- ENDOCROSS Device$179
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve$152
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra Transcatheter Heart Valve$110
- Mosaic$105
How this compares
$4,030 in reported general payments places this provider in the 40th percentile of 75 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Louisiana.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 21 | $656 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 22 | $216 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 19 | $179 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 25 | $79 |
| Potassium Chloride | 11 | $63 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 11 | $28 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Lake Charles
- Daniel BecklesLake Charles$80K
- Richard GitterMetairie$1.5M
- Emily CassidyBaton Rouge$1.3M
- David AllieLafayette$666K
- Vern KellerLafayette$394K
- Aditya BansalNew Orleans$140K
- Nicholas LeblancBaton Rouge$70K
- Sarah AhmadMonroe$58K
- Imtiaz KhanBaton Rouge$42K
- Robert DewittAlexandria$38K
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.