Laura Hughes, MD
Rheumatology · Opelika, ALNPI 1598792178
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $9,958 of the $12,658 with a category attached, or 78.7%. It is spread thinly across 31 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 21.1% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations.
Across 401 payments — averaging $31.57 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Pfizer$3K
- AbbVie$2K
- Johnson & Johnson$1K
- UCB, Inc.$1K
- Amgen$911
- AstraZeneca$862
- plus $4K from 25 others
Across 1 payment — averaging $1435.00 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB$1K
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$2,40019%
- Food & beverage$9,95879%
- Education$2232%
- Gifts$771%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pfizer | 15 | $2,669 |
| AbbVie | 71 | $1,746 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 52 | $1,468 |
| UCB, Inc. | 55 | $1,125 |
| Amgen | 38 | $911 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 33 | $862 |
| GSK | 29 | $756 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 20 | $490 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 11 | $330 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 12 | $292 |
| Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC | 3 | $276 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 8 | $264 |
| Novartis | 10 | $224 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 7 | $207 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 7 | $169 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 5 | $135 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $122 |
| Sanofi | 1 | $83 |
| Tosoh Bioscience, Inc. | 1 | $77 |
| Sobi, Inc | 4 | $73 |
| Organon | 4 | $72 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, PLC | 3 | $69 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 2 | $59 |
| Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC | 2 | $38 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $35 |
| Grifols USA, LLC | 1 | $21 |
| Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Kyowa Kirin, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Genentech USA, 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.
How this compares
$12,658 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 90 rheumatology providers in Alabama.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Humira(Cf) PenAdalimumab | 118 | $896,976 |
| BenlystaBelimumab | 65 | $305,699 |
| Skyrizi PenRisankizumab-Rzaa | 12 | $244,021 |
| RinvoqUpadacitinib | 38 | $238,695 |
| Cosentyx Sensoready (2 Pens)Secukinumab | 29 | $198,692 |
| Cosentyx Sensoready PenSecukinumab | 16 | $146,981 |
| Enbrel SureclickEtanercept | 16 | $118,529 |
| Orencia ClickjectAbatacept | 19 | $104,617 |
| Cimzia (2 Pack)Certolizumab Pegol | 16 | $89,838 |
| Actemra ActpenTocilizumab | 22 | $88,657 |
| KevzaraSarilumab | 15 | $63,064 |
| Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate | 391 | $21,898 |
| RasuvoMethotrexate/Pf | 17 | $12,139 |
| Leflunomide | 142 | $11,749 |
| Celecoxib | 167 | $7,623 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| GSKBenlysta | $756 | $305,69965 claims |
| AbbVieRinvoq | $1,746 | $238,69538 claims |
| UCB, Inc.Cimzia (2 Pack) | $1,125 | $89,83816 claims |
| SanofiKevzara | $83 | $63,06415 claims |
| Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc.Colchicine | $19 | $2,50325 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 65th percentile of 90 rheumatology providers in Alabama.
Other rheumatology in Opelika
- Thao Nguyen TranOpelika$20K
- Anthony TurkiewiczMountain Brk$2.2M
- Jeffrey CurtisBirmingham$612K
- David McLainBirmingham$588K
- Ray McLaughinTuscaloosa$332K
- Elizabeth PerkinsHoover$264K
- Peter SawayMountain Brk$166K
- Kenneth SaagBirmingham$143K
- Gino DivittorioMobile$139K
- Richard JonesNorthport$126K
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.