Ken Ehrhardt
Interventional Pain Medicine · Hammond, LANPI 1033571914
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (56.8%), food and beverage and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Vertex accounts for 61.6% of it on its own, with 38 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $16,497, more than ten times the $228 reported in 2019.
Across 229 payments — averaging $96.96 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Vertex$14K
- Boston Scientific$2K
- Spinal Simplicity, LLC$1K
- Globus Medical$1K
- Nevro Corp.$654
- Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc.$629
- plus $3K from 33 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$12,61057%
- Travel & lodging$2,0959%
- Food & beverage$7,49834%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Vertex | 18 | $13,670 |
| Boston Scientific | 26 | $1,878 |
| Spinal Simplicity, LLC | 14 | $1,423 |
| Globus Medical | 15 | $1,119 |
| Nevro Corp. | 17 | $654 |
| Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 35 | $629 |
| Biotronik NRO, Inc. | 5 | $433 |
| Medtronic | 8 | $207 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 9 | $184 |
| Virtus Pharmaceuticals LLC | 7 | $160 |
| AbbVie | 8 | $156 |
| SPR Therapeutics, Inc | 2 | $156 |
| Forte Bio-pharma LLC | 8 | $150 |
| Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 7 | $148 |
| Saluda Medical Americas, Inc. | 2 | $144 |
| Argenx US, Inc. | 6 | $124 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $123 |
| Pfizer | 6 | $103 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 4 | $99 |
| Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. | 4 | $88 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 3 | $55 |
| Novartis | 3 | $53 |
| Abbott | 2 | $48 |
| Nalu Medical, Inc. | 2 | $46 |
| Impel Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 2 | $36 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 2 | $35 |
| Neurelis, Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| Biogen | 1 | $24 |
| GE HealthCare | 1 | $24 |
| Eisai Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| MDD US Operations, LLC | 1 | $23 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Painteq LLC | 1 | $22 |
| Valinor Pharma, LLC | 1 | $22 |
| Averitas Pharma Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. | 1 | $21 |
| Baudax Bio Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Biodelivery Sciences International, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
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.
- JOURNAVX$13,363
- HA MINUTEMAN G3-R$1,066
- Senza$842
- WAVEWRITER ALPHA$492
- GENERAL PAIN MANAGEMENT$377
- Prospera$323
- SPECTRA WAVEWRITER$203
- Omnia$133
- EXPAREL$123
- Senza Spinal Cord Stimulation System$120
- Evoke SCS$119
- FIXATE$116
- SPRINT PNS System$103
How this compares
$22,203 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 57 interventional pain medicine providers in Louisiana.
See all interventional pain medicine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| BelbucaBuprenorphine Hcl | 250 | $210,794 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 906 | $34,839 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 1,373 | $25,196 |
| Buprenorphine | 38 | $13,922 |
| MovantikNaloxegol Oxalate | 19 | $7,671 |
| Lidocaine | 86 | $6,584 |
| Pregabalin | 591 | $5,969 |
| Xtampza ErOxycodone Myristate | 17 | $5,816 |
| Gabapentin | 476 | $4,965 |
| Baclofen | 299 | $2,340 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 222 | $1,800 |
| Duloxetine Hcl | 80 | $1,417 |
| Morphine Sulfate ErMorphine Sulfate | 59 | $1,112 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 198 | $942 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 126 | $928 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc.Belbuca, Xtampza Er | $629 | $216,610267 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 85th percentile of 57 interventional pain medicine providers in Louisiana.
Other interventional pain medicine in Hammond
- Jonathan ThompsonHammond$3K
- Maged GuirguisNew Orleans$565K
- Suneil JollyKenner$107K
- John CefaluShreveport$71K
- Steve LeeSlidell$57K
- William WhyteShreveport$39K
- Paul HubbellMetairie$33K
- Thomas BerryLacombe$21K
- Randall BrewerShreveport$19K
- Corey Ann ConnCovinton$18K
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.