Lauren Choi, MD
Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism · Long Beach, CANPI 1699736132
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 503 payments — averaging $17.58 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Lilly USA, LLC$2K
- Dexcom, Inc.$1K
- Abbott$1K
- Novo Nordisk$1K
- Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC$792
- Amgen$479
- plus $3K from 28 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$8,78599%
- Education$581%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lilly USA, LLC | 102 | $1,574 |
| Dexcom, Inc. | 81 | $1,184 |
| Abbott | 65 | $1,167 |
| Novo Nordisk | 71 | $1,093 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 40 | $792 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 21 | $479 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 18 | $349 |
| Merck | 13 | $228 |
| AbbVie | 9 | $203 |
| Corcept Therapeutics | 10 | $199 |
| AstraZeneca | 11 | $195 |
| Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc. | 5 | $151 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 7 | $147 |
| Lifescan, Inc. | 6 | $115 |
| IBSA Pharma Inc. | 5 | $102 |
| Insulet Corporation | 4 | $96 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 4 | $96 |
| BD | 3 | $85 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 4 | $81 |
| GSK | 4 | $69 |
| Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $56 |
| Amryt Pharma Holdings Ltd | 1 | $55 |
| Zealand Pharma US, Inc. | 3 | $55 |
| Valeritas, Inc. | 1 | $49 |
| BETA Bionics, Inc. | 1 | $42 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $42 |
| Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC | 2 | $27 |
| Mannkind Corporation | 1 | $20 |
| Aytu Biopharma, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $19 |
| Impel Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Vistapharm, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Bayer | 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
$8,843 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 952 endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism providers in California.
See all endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism providers in California →
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 | 277 | $346,657 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 181 | $248,367 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 167 | $227,600 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 108 | $140,421 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 93 | $127,732 |
| TradjentaLinagliptin | 85 | $94,612 |
| ProliaDenosumab | 47 | $79,966 |
| Toujeo Max SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 56 | $78,586 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 36 | $40,872 |
| SynthroidLevothyroxine Sodium | 338 | $37,179 |
| Janumet XrSitagliptin Phos/Metformin Hcl | 34 | $35,268 |
| TymlosAbaloparatide | 11 | $27,812 |
| Tresiba Flextouch U-200Insulin Degludec | 30 | $25,964 |
| Toujeo SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 42 | $25,949 |
| Lantus SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 173 | $24,845 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lilly USA, LLCTrulicity, Mounjaro | $1,574 | $355,332260 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance, Tradjenta, Synjardy Xr | $81 | $352,950281 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $1,093 | $346,657277 claims |
| MerckJanuvia, Janumet Xr | $228 | $175,689142 claims |
| AmgenProlia | $479 | $79,96647 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $195 | $40,87236 claims |
| AbbVieSynthroid | $203 | $37,179338 claims |
| Radius Health, Inc.Tymlos | $349 | $27,81211 claims |
| Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLCLevothyroxine Sodium | $27 | $6,945591 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 70th percentile of 952 endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism providers in California.
Other endocrinology, diabetes & metabolism in Long Beach
- Jerrold OlefskySan Diego$26.5M
- Mark ChristiansenWalnut Creek$22.9M
- Timothy BaileyEscondido$22.3M
- Stanley HsiaLos Angeles$19.8M
- Juan FriasSan Diego$14.1M
- Paul NorwoodFresno$6.2M
- Athena Philis-Tsimikasla Jolla$6M
- David AhnNewport Beach$5.8M
- Shlomo MelmedLos Angeles$3.3M
- Leila ChaychiSan Carlos$3.2M
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.