Karen Olarte Merida, MD
Internal Medicine · San Antonio, TXNPI 1245460260
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 426 payments — averaging $16.85 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Novo Nordisk$1K
- AstraZeneca$1K
- AbbVie$933
- Lilly USA, LLC$709
- Boehringer Ingelheim$631
- Johnson & Johnson$396
- plus $2K from 22 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$7,179100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novo Nordisk | 85 | $1,316 |
| AstraZeneca | 48 | $1,108 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 57 | $933 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 46 | $709 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 40 | $631 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 32 | $396 |
| GSK | 20 | $362 |
| Merck | 17 | $253 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 14 | $247 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 7 | $188 |
| Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc. | 9 | $170 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 11 | $148 |
| Abbott | 6 | $139 |
| Novartis | 4 | $80 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 4 | $74 |
| Pfizer | 4 | $71 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 5 | $71 |
| Azurity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $60 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 3 | $53 |
| Bayer | 3 | $43 |
| Averitas Pharma Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Shield Therapeutics Inc | 1 | $18 |
| Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Dynavax Technologies Corporation | 1 | $17 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Mannkind Corporation | 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.
How this compares
$7,179 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 7,675 internal medicine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| OzempicSemaglutide | 150 | $233,867 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 148 | $217,352 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 116 | $199,787 |
| RybelsusSemaglutide | 62 | $160,420 |
| Synjardy XrEmpagliflozin/Metformin Hcl | 81 | $135,444 |
| Trijardy XrEmpaglifloz/Linaglip/Metformin | 69 | $123,951 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 129 | $106,360 |
| Janumet XrSitagliptin Phos/Metformin Hcl | 58 | $91,923 |
| MyrbetriqMirabegron | 72 | $82,161 |
| EliquisApixaban | 49 | $81,791 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 57 | $78,444 |
| GemtesaVibegron | 61 | $74,166 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 26 | $72,811 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 49 | $69,545 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 40 | $63,599 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance, Synjardy Xr, Trijardy Xr, Synjardy, Glyxambi | $631 | $547,796318 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic, Rybelsus, Xultophy 100-3.6 | $1,316 | $409,727224 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCMounjaro, Trulicity | $709 | $290,163174 claims |
| MerckJanumet Xr, Januvia, Belsomra | $253 | $165,400122 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Breo Ellipta | $362 | $120,295146 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Breztri Aerosphere | $1,108 | $88,70876 claims |
| Astellas Pharma US IncMyrbetriq | $247 | $82,16172 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $71 | $81,79149 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $396 | $78,44457 claims |
| Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc.Gemtesa | $170 | $74,16661 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $80 | $63,59940 claims |
| AbbVieLinzess, Qulipta | $933 | $33,48633 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 7,675 internal medicine providers in Texas.
Other internal medicine in San Antonio
- Robert BassSan Antonio$25.6M
- Hernan SalazarSan Antonio$18.5M
- Dennis RuffSan Antonio$7.5M
- Cassandra KeySan Antonio$5.6M
- Jan BurgerHouston$47.3M
- Nitin JainHouston$33.2M
- Muhammad IrfanTomball$30.6M
- Aung NaingHouston$30.6M
- Preetesh JainHouston$19.5M
- Paolo StratiHouston$19.2M
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.