Mark Effron, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · New Orleans, LANPI 1598139362
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $4,022 of the $4,638 with a category attached, or 86.7%. It is spread thinly across 18 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 16.7% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $1,367 and has fallen 51.3% since, to $665 in 2025.
Across 130 payments — averaging $35.68 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Janssen Research & Development, LLC$773
- Boston Scientific$653
- Novartis$550
- Amgen$510
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$381
- Johnson & Johnson$333
- plus $1K from 12 others
Across 17 payments — averaging $3077.35 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.
- Janssen Research & Development, LLC$36K
- Amgen$17K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$61613%
- Food & beverage$4,02287%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Janssen Research & Development, LLC | 10 | $773 |
| Boston Scientific | 6 | $653 |
| Novartis | 23 | $550 |
| Amgen | 20 | $510 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 10 | $381 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 14 | $333 |
| Novo Nordisk | 8 | $307 |
| Kestra Medical Technology Services, Inc. | 5 | $225 |
| Pfizer | 9 | $208 |
| Biosense Webster, Inc. | 1 | $147 |
| AstraZeneca | 9 | $139 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 7 | $121 |
| Abbott | 1 | $90 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $85 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 2 | $49 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $29 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC | 1 | $16 |
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.
- LUX-Dx Insertable Cardiac Monitor$260
- Carto 3$147
- Assure WCD$144
- ENTRESTO$111
- EMBLEM MRI S-ICD$108
- XARELTO$103
- LifeVest$100
How this compares
$4,638 in reported general payments places this provider in the 55th percentile of 281 cardiovascular disease providers in Louisiana.
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 | 167 | $167,388 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 89 | $85,453 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 85 | $81,568 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 92 | $74,181 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 43 | $38,083 |
| Praluent PenAlirocumab | 30 | $19,366 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 12 | $13,730 |
| VascepaIcosapent Ethyl | 11 | $5,034 |
| Valsartan | 58 | $2,574 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 227 | $2,165 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 124 | $1,633 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 110 | $1,344 |
| Ezetimibe | 114 | $1,246 |
| Isosorbide Dinitrate | 17 | $767 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 168 | $763 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PfizerEliquis | $208 | $167,388167 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $550 | $85,45389 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $49 | $81,56885 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $333 | $38,08343 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $139 | $13,73012 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 55th percentile of 281 cardiovascular disease providers in Louisiana.
Other cardiovascular disease in New Orleans
- Keith FerdinandNew Orleans$239K
- Carl LavieNew Orleans$228K
- Alexandra SanchezNew Orleans$69K
- Nabeel SaghirNew Orleans$49K
- Aimee HiltboldNew Orleans$29K
- Richard MilaniNew Orleans$28K
- Salima QamruddinNew Orleans$27K
- Joseph EnglertNew Orleans$19K
- Emmett ChapitalNew Orleans$13K
- Yvonne GillilandNew Orleans$13K
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.