Lea El Hage, MD
Internal Medicine · Cleveland, OHNPI 1386088557
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 5 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 3 manufacturers reported payments, led by Lilly USA, LLC at 58.0% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $48 and has fallen 63.1% since, to $18 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for internal medicine clinicians in OH, where the typical reported total is $164.
Across 5 payments — averaging $16.57 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Lilly USA, LLC$48
- Ascendis Pharma Endocrinology Inc$18
- Novo Nordisk$17
Across 3 payments — averaging $40,852 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.
- Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.$123K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$83100%
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 | 3 | $48 |
| Ascendis Pharma Endocrinology Inc | 1 | $18 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $17 |
How this compares
$83 in reported general payments places this provider in the 35th percentile of 4,428 internal medicine providers in Ohio.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 127 | $211,507 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 109 | $179,653 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 56 | $84,864 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 63 | $76,700 |
| Toujeo SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 16 | $11,806 |
| SynthroidLevothyroxine Sodium | 122 | $11,582 |
| Basaglar Kwikpen U-100Insulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 18 | $10,254 |
| Levothyroxine Sodium | 547 | $5,911 |
| Lantus SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 41 | $5,060 |
| Ultra-Fine Mini Pen NeedlePen Needle, Diabetic | 22 | $2,901 |
| Insulin Lispro Kwikpen U-100Insulin Lispro | 12 | $2,268 |
| Armour ThyroidThyroid,pork | 20 | $1,678 |
| LevoxylLevothyroxine Sodium | 27 | $1,583 |
| Liothyronine Sodium | 36 | $1,545 |
| Glimepiride | 76 | $1,370 |
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, LLCMounjaro, Trulicity | $48 | $391,159236 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $17 | $84,86456 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 35th percentile of 4,428 internal medicine providers in Ohio.
Other internal medicine in Cleveland
- Cyrus HarrisCleveland$726K
- Marina MagreyCleveland$312K
- Joshua LonginowCleveland$241K
- Emad MansoorCleveland$219K
- Syed BukhariCleveland$165K
- Vadim KoshkinCleveland$159K
- Suresh Kumar BalasubramanianCleveland$148K
- Christine Tanaka-EspositoCleveland$123K
- Carla HarwellCleveland$75K
- Amr MohamedCleveland$72K
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.