Maria Suarez Almazor, MD
Rheumatology · Houston, TXNPI 1952341810
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $58,920 of the $71,746 with a category attached, or 82.1%. 8 manufacturers reported payments, led by Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. at 28.6% of the total. Among rheumatology clinicians in TX 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 28 payments — averaging $2562.37 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc.$21K
- AbbVie$13K
- AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$10K
- Pfizer$10K
- Gilead$9K
- Eli Lilly$8K
- plus $332 from 2 others
Across 5 payments — averaging $4397.94 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.
- Bristol Myers Squibb$14K
- Purdue Pharma L.p.$6K
- Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.$2K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$58,92082%
- Speaking & faculty fees$11,48016%
- Travel & lodging$8811%
- Food & beverage$4651%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 2 | $20,519 |
| AbbVie | 7 | $13,015 |
| AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 8 | $10,451 |
| Pfizer | 4 | $10,030 |
| Gilead | 1 | $9,000 |
| Eli Lilly | 2 | $8,400 |
| Novartis | 3 | $313 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
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
$71,746 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 512 rheumatology providers in Texas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ForteoTeriparatide | 19 | $82,174 |
| Duloxetine Hcl | 16 | $245 |
| Prednisone | 23 | $235 |
| Alendronate Sodium | 31 | $202 |
| Venlafaxine Hcl ErVenlafaxine Hcl | 15 | $140 |
| Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate | 12 | $137 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other rheumatology in Houston
- Naureen AlimHouston$397K
- Shervin AssassiHouston$329K
- Tareq Abou-KhamisHouston$116K
- Maureen MayesHouston$84K
- John ReveilleHouston$61K
- Michelle EisenbergHouston$53K
- Alfredo SardinasHouston$52K
- Adnan PeerHouston$49K
- Mujahed AlikhanHouston$41K
- Dianne WollastonHouston$39K
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.