Lehaz Kaker, MD
Hospitalist · New Brunswick, NJNPI 1720453384
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 64 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 29 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 14.1% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Among hospitalist 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 64 payments — averaging $21.72 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC$195
- Johnson & Johnson$154
- Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$131
- AstraZeneca$100
- Novo Nordisk$80
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$68
- plus $660 from 23 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,390100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 7 | $195 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 8 | $154 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 7 | $131 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 6 | $100 |
| Novo Nordisk | 3 | $80 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 4 | $68 |
| Novartis | 2 | $61 |
| Stryker | 2 | $61 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 2 | $53 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $40 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 2 | $39 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 2 | $37 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 1 | $34 |
| Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $33 |
| Neurelis, Inc. | 2 | $29 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $24 |
| UCB, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Merck | 1 | $24 |
| Exact Sciences | 1 | $23 |
| Vertex | 1 | $23 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 1 | $22 |
| Melinta Therapeutics, LLC | 1 | $22 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 1 | $18 |
| Abbott | 1 | $18 |
| Gilead | 1 | $16 |
| Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Mylan Specialty L.p. | 1 | $11 |
How this compares
$1,390 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 567 hospitalist 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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 28 | $13,028 |
| Gabapentin | 31 | $656 |
| Ipratropium Bromide | 13 | $470 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 37 | $283 |
| Tamsulosin Hcl | 19 | $247 |
| Bumetanide | 12 | $235 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 13 | $219 |
| Ondansetron OdtOndansetron | 13 | $194 |
| Furosemide | 26 | $191 |
| Potassium Chloride | 11 | $183 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 14 | $162 |
| Levetiracetam | 14 | $157 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 16 | $154 |
| Levothyroxine Sodium | 15 | $124 |
| Spironolactone | 22 | $116 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other hospitalist in New Brunswick
- Mohammed UsmanToms River$33K
- Justin BaptistAtlantic City$23K
- Jhonsua Jimenez AriasMorristown$15K
- Ahmed HassaninMorristown$15K
- Mohamed BakrAtlantic City$8K
- Jason NehmadNeptune$7K
- Rebecca ZweiflerMorristown$6K
- Scott KaufmanMount Holly$6K
- Kunal ParmarPompton Plains$6K
- Sameh GirgisNeptune$6K
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.