Kara Topka, PA
Medical · Altoona, PANPI 1255707071
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 436 payments — averaging $13.80 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$2K
- Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC$1K
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.$624
- Johnson & Johnson$591
- Ardelyx, Inc.$329
- Bristol Myers Squibb$221
- plus $1K from 18 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$6,015100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVie | 143 | $1,984 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 113 | $1,238 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 52 | $624 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 43 | $591 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 16 | $329 |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | 13 | $221 |
| Braintree Laboratories, Inc. | 8 | $113 |
| Sanofi | 5 | $111 |
| Madrigal Pharmaceuticals | 2 | $88 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 4 | $87 |
| Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 4 | $81 |
| Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc | 4 | $80 |
| Amgen | 4 | $80 |
| Merck | 3 | $58 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 3 | $54 |
| Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 5 | $47 |
| Pfizer | 3 | $44 |
| Axonics, Inc. | 2 | $42 |
| Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. | 2 | $37 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 2 | $33 |
| Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc | 2 | $25 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| QOL Medical, LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Redhill Biopharma Inc. | 1 | $13 |
How this compares
$6,015 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 2,594 medical providers in Pennsylvania.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| CreonLipase/Protease/Amylase | 47 | $117,467 |
| XifaxanRifaximin | 29 | $90,718 |
| LinzessLinaclotide | 78 | $63,503 |
| TrulancePlecanatide | 27 | $25,673 |
| Sucralfate | 98 | $15,564 |
| Mesalamine | 23 | $14,625 |
| Sod Sulf-Potass Sulf-Mag SulfSodium, Potassium,mag Sulfates | 214 | $14,016 |
| Dexlansoprazole DrDexlansoprazole | 45 | $12,583 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 519 | $6,692 |
| MovantikNaloxegol Oxalate | 17 | $6,686 |
| ClenpiqSod Picosulf/Mag Ox/Citric Ac | 26 | $4,320 |
| NexiumEsomeprazole Magnesium | 15 | $4,041 |
| Ursodiol | 37 | $4,007 |
| Lubiprostone | 28 | $3,876 |
| Omeprazole | 359 | $3,432 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVieCreon, Linzess | $1,984 | $180,970125 claims |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLCXifaxan, Trulance | $1,238 | $116,39156 claims |
| Redhill Biopharma Inc.Movantik | $13 | $6,68617 claims |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.Clenpiq | $19 | $4,32026 claims |
| Braintree Laboratories, Inc.Sutab | $113 | $2,98619 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 90th percentile of 2,594 medical providers in Pennsylvania.
Other medical in Altoona
- Jacqueline KernaghanSpringfield$427K
- Drew SodaNew Hope$220K
- Angela KapalkoPhiladelphia$123K
- Linda PerryPhiladelphia$123K
- Cory DavidsonErie$119K
- Shelley SassamanTamaqua$90K
- Meghan HoffnerBethlehem$86K
- Thomas IacovoniDanville$72K
- Scott CoxWynnewood$66K
- Sarah SmithPhiladelphia$65K
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.