Lina Karam
Pediatric Gastroenterology · Houston, TXNPI 1295749224
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 2 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. Celltrion USA Inc. accounts for 84.7% of it on its own, with 1 other manufacturer making up the rest. That places this record below the midpoint for pediatric gastroenterology clinicians in TX, where the typical reported total is $642.
Across 2 payments — averaging $69.69 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Celltrion USA Inc.$118
- AbbVie$21
Across 120 payments — averaging $10,770 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.
- Pfizer$385K
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.$376K
- Bristol Myers Squibb$184K
- Eli Lilly$158K
- AbbVie$139K
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$51K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$139100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Celltrion USA Inc. | 1 | $118 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $21 |
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.
- VEGZELMA$118
How this compares
$139 in reported general payments places this provider in the 15th percentile of 159 pediatric gastroenterology providers in Texas.
Other pediatric gastroenterology in Houston
- Wenly RuanHouston$155K
- Stephanie AbramsHouston$94K
- Ruben QuirosHouston$32K
- Daniel LeungHouston$31K
- Faith IhekweazuHouston$21K
- Bruno ChumpitaziHouston$18K
- Kathleen MotilHouston$17K
- Sanjiv HarpavatHouston$12K
- Stanton MalowitzHouston$2K
- Naveen MittalDallas$182K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.