Murray Whitaker, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Vicksburg, MSNPI 1053349373
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.6% of the total across 357 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 32 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 12.1% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. 2025 is the largest year on record at $1,651, 2.8 times the $593 reported in 2019.
Across 357 payments — averaging $18.05 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$780
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$772
- Novartis$756
- Merck$573
- Stryker$552
- Shockwave Medical, Inc$351
- plus $3K from 26 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$6,417100%
- Education$260%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 39 | $780 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 47 | $772 |
| Novartis | 48 | $756 |
| Merck | 34 | $573 |
| Stryker | 12 | $552 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 18 | $351 |
| Amgen | 22 | $312 |
| Boston Scientific | 21 | $288 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 18 | $275 |
| Abiomed | 14 | $272 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 16 | $270 |
| Pfizer | 15 | $248 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 9 | $149 |
| Bayer | 5 | $121 |
| AstraZeneca | 7 | $99 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 4 | $84 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 4 | $80 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 5 | $66 |
| Kestra Medical Technology Services, Inc. | 2 | $57 |
| Medtronic | 2 | $53 |
| Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. | 3 | $47 |
| Teleflex LLC | 2 | $41 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Itamar Medical Inc | 1 | $24 |
| GSK | 1 | $24 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 1 | $22 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Braemar Manufacturing, LLC | 1 | $21 |
| Endologix LLC | 1 | $20 |
| ZOLL Circulation Inc | 1 | $14 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $14 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
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.
- ARTIX MT$160
How this compares
$6,443 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 144 cardiovascular disease providers in Mississippi.
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 | 359 | $272,994 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 133 | $127,802 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 106 | $83,240 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 43 | $40,150 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 81 | $36,771 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 14 | $20,747 |
| Praluent PenAlirocumab | 19 | $8,582 |
| Potassium Chloride | 378 | $6,408 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 12 | $4,531 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 316 | $3,388 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 282 | $2,111 |
| Amiodarone Hcl | 159 | $2,025 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 326 | $1,789 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 366 | $1,769 |
| Furosemide | 414 | $1,450 |
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 | $248 | $272,994359 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $275 | $127,802133 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $756 | $83,240106 claims |
| AstraZenecaBrilinta, Farxiga | $99 | $41,30193 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $270 | $20,74714 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 65th percentile of 144 cardiovascular disease providers in Mississippi.
Other cardiovascular disease in Vicksburg
- Paul PierceVicksburg$19K
- Dharmesh PatelSouthaven$1.5M
- Barry BertoletTupelo$469K
- Donny StokesJackson$207K
- Mahmoud ZayedPascagoula$103K
- James BenslerJackson$64K
- Michael HallJackson$54K
- Hugo QuintanaPascagoula$48K
- Ediz TasanPascagoula$42K
- Lawrence LeaderHattiesburg$40K
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.