Melissa Thepvongsa
Physician Assistant · Chula Vista, CANPI 1750964425
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 158 payments — averaging $48.76 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Boston Scientific$2K
- Johnson & Johnson$757
- Edwards Lifesciences$735
- Abbott$616
- Shockwave Medical, Inc$565
- Heartflow, Inc.$320
- plus $3K from 29 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$7,704100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Scientific | 22 | $1,522 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 23 | $757 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 6 | $735 |
| Abbott | 9 | $616 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 7 | $565 |
| Heartflow, Inc. | 4 | $320 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 10 | $273 |
| Impulse Dynamics (USA) Inc. | 2 | $251 |
| Abiomed | 4 | $218 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 8 | $207 |
| AstraZeneca | 5 | $193 |
| Novartis | 9 | $192 |
| Bayer | 3 | $165 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 5 | $163 |
| Stryker | 1 | $160 |
| Si-bone, Inc. | 1 | $144 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 2 | $143 |
| Merck | 3 | $127 |
| Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. | 1 | $123 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 1 | $122 |
| Cleerly, Inc. | 1 | $83 |
| Amgen | 5 | $73 |
| Pfizer | 4 | $72 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. | 4 | $70 |
| Novo Nordisk | 3 | $64 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 3 | $64 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 3 | $51 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $50 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 2 | $42 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 1 | $38 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $18 |
| Cardiva Medical, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, PLC | 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.
- Watchman$527
- OPTIMIZER$503
- SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA$494
- Shockwave IVL System with the Shockwave C2 Coronary IVL Catheter$476
- XARELTO$372
- MitraClip$296
- FFRct$249
- FlowTriever$160
- WATCHMAN Access System$155
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra Transcatheter Heart Valve$145
- THORATEC HEARTMATE 3 LVAS IMPLANT KIT$140
- Impella$131
- Farapulse$127
- Kerendia$127
- INGREZZA$123
- AMVUTTRA$123
- CRYSVITA$122
- WATCHMAN FLX$120
- CAMZYOS$102
How this compares
$7,704 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 10,423 physician assistant providers in California.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 41 | $40,262 |
| EliquisApixaban | 34 | $35,093 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 19 | $15,294 |
| Praluent PenAlirocumab | 15 | $12,873 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 11 | $5,695 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 195 | $1,890 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 166 | $1,564 |
| Losartan Potassium | 122 | $945 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 40 | $929 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 221 | $677 |
| Ezetimibe | 23 | $672 |
| Ranolazine ErRanolazine | 18 | $597 |
| Losartan-HydrochlorothiazideLosartan/Hydrochlorothiazide | 21 | $472 |
| Bumetanide | 17 | $368 |
| Valsartan | 15 | $318 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $757 | $40,26241 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $72 | $35,09334 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $163 | $15,29419 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $193 | $5,69511 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 95th percentile of 10,423 physician assistant providers in California.
Other physician assistant in Chula Vista
- James LynchChula Vista$32K
- John QuigleyDowney$2.9M
- Andrea NguyenIrvine$1M
- Mikhail AlperMadera$889K
- Erin JensenUpland$716K
- Franklin ClineSacramento$458K
- Carla CrespoMarina del Rey$297K
- Katherine OsakiEl Centro$274K
- Shawna JonesFountain Valley$266K
- Heather AustinSalinas$219K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.