Melanie McKnight, MD
Hospitalist · Baton Rouge, LANPI 1073546149
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 94.3% of the total across 60 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 21 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 18.3% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $669 and has fallen 96.3% since, to $25 in 2025. Among hospitalist clinicians in LA 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 60 payments — averaging $29.02 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Inari Medical, Inc.$319
- Boehringer Ingelheim$288
- AstraZeneca$235
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$134
- Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc$115
- Johnson & Johnson$100
- plus $549 from 15 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,64194%
- Education$1006%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 2 | $319 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 8 | $288 |
| AstraZeneca | 10 | $235 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 8 | $134 |
| Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc | 6 | $115 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 5 | $100 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $82 |
| Sanofi | 2 | $79 |
| Mylan Specialty L.p. | 2 | $46 |
| United Therapeutics Corporation | 2 | $44 |
| Novartis | 2 | $40 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 2 | $38 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $36 |
| Merck | 2 | $34 |
| Grifols USA, LLC | 1 | $29 |
| Abbott | 1 | $25 |
| Electromed, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $21 |
| Bayer | 1 | $20 |
| UCB, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
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
$1,741 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 301 hospitalist 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mirtazapine | 14 | $437 |
| Famotidine | 13 | $391 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 38 | $187 |
| Nitroglycerin | 15 | $143 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 19 | $118 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 16 | $112 |
| Amoxicillin-Clavulanate PotassAmoxicillin/Potassium Clav | 15 | $105 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 23 | $103 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 12 | $76 |
| Levofloxacin | 17 | $59 |
| Furosemide | 23 | $53 |
| Prednisone | 19 | $40 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other hospitalist in Baton Rouge
- David MickeyBaton Rouge$6K
- Haroon MujahidBaton Rouge$4K
- Robert CauseyBaton Rouge$2K
- Brandi FontenotBaton Rouge$2K
- Brian GouriBaton Rouge$2K
- Kevin DeanBaton Rouge$2K
- Brandon HoweBaton Rouge$2K
- Amy GiarrussoBaton Rouge$2K
- Joe Marie DizonBaton Rouge$2K
- Daniel RobbinsBaton Rouge$2K
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.