Laura Torres Cruz, MD
Internal Medicine · West New York, NJNPI 1134695299
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.3% of the total across 179 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 26 manufacturers reported payments, led by Amgen at 31.5% of the total. Among internal medicine clinicians in NJ with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 179 payments — averaging $33.79 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Amgen$2K
- AstraZeneca$892
- Novo Nordisk$639
- Ardelyx, Inc.$382
- Intra-sana Laboratories$346
- Corcept Therapeutics$276
- plus $2K from 20 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$6,00999%
- Education$401%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Amgen | 36 | $1,907 |
| AstraZeneca | 15 | $892 |
| Novo Nordisk | 21 | $639 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 16 | $382 |
| Intra-sana Laboratories | 5 | $346 |
| Corcept Therapeutics | 10 | $276 |
| AbbVie | 11 | $255 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 12 | $216 |
| Pfizer | 5 | $188 |
| GSK | 10 | $172 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 3 | $155 |
| Bayer | 8 | $146 |
| Dexcom, Inc. | 5 | $99 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 4 | $57 |
| Merck | 3 | $50 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 2 | $44 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 2 | $34 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 2 | $31 |
| Idorsia Pharmaceuticals US Inc | 2 | $30 |
| Exact Sciences | 1 | $26 |
| Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $19 |
| Currax Pharmaceuticals LLC | 1 | $18 |
| Novartis | 1 | $16 |
| Redhill Biopharma Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
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
$6,049 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 4,032 internal medicine providers in New Jersey.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cefpodoxime Proxetil | 12 | $461 |
| Fluticasone Propionate | 19 | $461 |
| Azithromycin | 12 | $88 |
| Famotidine | 19 | $74 |
| Levothyroxine Sodium | 12 | $67 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 11 | $38 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other internal medicine in West New York
- David ShulkinMorristown$1.7M
- Howard UdermanLakewood$955K
- Darshi SunderamEast Orange$530K
- Annika DrongeEmerson$401K
- Stephen MarcellaNew Brunswick$331K
- Viju VijaysadanKinnelon$325K
- Mark MonaneWoodcliff Lake$268K
- Martin BedigianLivingston$240K
- Rameck HuntPlainsboro$217K
- Angel LazoSecaucus$195K
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.