Karen Bednarski, MD
Otolaryngology · Houston, TXNPI 1255540175
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (40.2%), travel and lodging and consulting fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 37 manufacturers reported payments, led by Neurent Medical Limited at 54.3% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $16,832 and has fallen 92.4% since, to $1,281 in 2025. Among otolaryngology clinicians in TX with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 313 payments — averaging $78.80 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Neurent Medical Limited$13K
- Aerin Medical Inc.$2K
- Sanofi$2K
- Optinose US, Inc.$922
- AstraZeneca$907
- Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc.$670
- plus $5K from 31 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$7,03129%
- Travel & lodging$7,72131%
- Food & beverage$9,91340%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Neurent Medical Limited | 15 | $13,390 |
| Aerin Medical Inc. | 17 | $2,249 |
| Sanofi | 13 | $1,994 |
| Optinose US, Inc. | 36 | $922 |
| AstraZeneca | 34 | $907 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 27 | $670 |
| GSK | 27 | $489 |
| Novartis | 23 | $468 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 18 | $418 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 6 | $408 |
| Acclarent, Inc | 10 | $376 |
| CSL Behring | 14 | $289 |
| Kaleo, Inc. | 13 | $274 |
| Stryker | 6 | $257 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 3 | $252 |
| Intersect ENT, Inc. | 3 | $136 |
| Olympus America Inc. | 1 | $124 |
| Grifols USA, LLC | 6 | $120 |
| Biocryst US Sales Co., LLC | 5 | $112 |
| Blueprint Medicines Corporation | 4 | $106 |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA | 5 | $103 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 1 | $93 |
| LEO Pharma Inc. | 4 | $81 |
| Incyte Corporation | 4 | $80 |
| Pharming Healthcare, Inc. | 3 | $70 |
| Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 3 | $36 |
| Alk-abello, Inc | 2 | $29 |
| Merck | 1 | $27 |
| Apria Healthcare LLC | 1 | $25 |
| ARS Pharmaceuticals Operations, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 1 | $25 |
| Amgen | 1 | $24 |
| Biocryst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Aimmune Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Phadia US Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $13 |
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.
- NEUROMARK Radiofrequency Console$13,095
- NEUROMARK Device$12,960
- VIVAER STYLUS$1,489
- RHINAER STYLUS$1,489
- Xhance$224
- ENTELLUS - XPRESS ENT DILATION SYSTEM$162
- ENDOSCOPIC SINUS SURGERY KIT$148
- Vivaer RF Stylus$143
- NEUROMARK System$136
- DUPIXENT$125
- RHINO-LARYNGO VIDEOSCOPE$124
- XOLAIR$122
- TEZSPIRE$122
- SINUVA$113
- SpinPlus Navigation$108
How this compares
$24,665 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 729 otolaryngology 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dupixent SyringeDupilumab | 16 | $57,679 |
| Flucytosine | 12 | $37,523 |
| Ipratropium Bromide | 154 | $5,234 |
| Fluticasone Propionate | 168 | $3,703 |
| Azelastine Hcl | 127 | $3,359 |
| Fluocinolone Acetonide Oil | 22 | $807 |
| Omeprazole | 59 | $773 |
| Mometasone Furoate | 12 | $763 |
| Cefdinir | 30 | $673 |
| Doxycycline Hyclate | 50 | $648 |
| Levocetirizine Dihydrochloride | 24 | $603 |
| Famotidine | 33 | $456 |
| Mupirocin | 48 | $370 |
| Amoxicillin-Clavulanate PotassAmoxicillin/Potassium Clav | 30 | $319 |
| Montelukast Sodium | 19 | $182 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other otolaryngology in Houston
- Amber LuongHouston$426K
- Arjuna KuperanHouston$348K
- Ron KarniHouston$317K
- Martin CitardiHouston$245K
- Michael KaplanHouston$202K
- Masayoshi TakashimaHouston$167K
- William YaoHouston$154K
- Andrew HuangHouston$137K
- Manish WaniHouston$100K
- Shane PahlavanHouston$95K
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.