Has Nathan Hales, MD received payments from drug or device companies?

Yes. Drug and device makers reported $1,008 in general payments to Nathan Hales, MD across 36 transactions between 2019–2025. Most Open Payments records nationally are meals worth under $20; a reported payment is not evidence of wrongdoing.

Does a payment mean Nathan Hales, MD did something wrong?

No. Federal law requires drug and device makers to report almost every transfer of value to a physician, including a $14 sandwich at a lunch presentation. Consulting fees, research funding and royalties to device inventors are ordinary, legal parts of medicine. This site reports what was disclosed; it makes no allegation.

Where does this information about Nathan Hales, MD come from?

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Payments come from Open Payments, published under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. Billing and prescribing figures come from the Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners and Part D Prescriber public use files for 2024.

Nathan Hales, MD

Otolaryngology · San Antonio, TXNPI 1053450304

Payments from drug & device makers

What this record shows

Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 98.4% of the total across 36 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 14 manufacturers reported payments, led by Sanofi at 36.5% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $590, 9.0 times the $65 reported in 2019. That places this record below the midpoint for otolaryngology clinicians in TX, where the typical reported total is $1,798.

$1,008in general payments, 2019–2025

Across 36 payments — averaging $27.99 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.

Sanofi$367
Medtronic$140
Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc.$136
Intuitive Surgical$92
Johnson & Johnson$52
ARS Pharmaceuticals Operations, Inc.$46
plus $174 from 8 others

$224,745in research payments, 2019–2025

Across 8 payments — averaging $28,093 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.

Merck$225K

What the payments were for

Food & beverage$99298%
Education$162%

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
Sanofi	10	$367
Medtronic	3	$140
Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc.	5	$136
Intuitive Surgical	5	$92
Johnson & Johnson	2	$52
ARS Pharmaceuticals Operations, Inc.	2	$46
Inspire Medical Systems, Inc.	1	$35
Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc.	2	$28
Lilly USA, LLC	1	$27
GSK	1	$25
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Inc	1	$17
Tactile Systems Technology Inc	1	$15
Optinose US, Inc.	1	$15
E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.	1	$11

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.

DUPIXENT$250

How this compares

$1,008 in reported general payments places this provider in the 35th percentile of 729 otolaryngology providers in Texas.

See all otolaryngology providers in Texas →

Medicare billing

Part B allowed, 2024

$305,139

Medicare patients

779

Services billed

4,147

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
Omeprazole	72	$871
Ipratropium Bromide	30	$681
Famotidine	28	$423
Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen	26	$259
Montelukast Sodium	16	$176
Pantoprazole Sodium	18	$115
Chlorhexidine Gluconate	17	$87
Tramadol Hcl	41	$84
Ondansetron Hcl	22	$47
Ondansetron OdtOndansetron	11	$44
Azithromycin	11	$30

Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.

Other otolaryngology in San Antonio

Philip ChenSan Antonio$305K
James AtkinsSan Antonio$205K
Jeffrey RosenbloomSan Antonio$23K
Jay FerrellSan Antonio$19K
Marc DeanFort Worth$486K
Amber LuongHouston$426K
Arjuna KuperanHouston$348K
Ronald KuppersmithCollege Station$325K
Ron KarniHouston$317K
Jordan RihaniSouthlake$280K

See the full list for Texas →

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.

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