Nicholas Helmstetter, MD
Neurology · New Orleans, LANPI 1144789363
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 98.7% of the total across 234 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 38 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 17.3% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations.
Across 234 payments — averaging $24.61 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$999
- UCB, Inc.$553
- AstraZeneca$519
- Argenx US, Inc.$448
- EMD Serono, Inc.$401
- Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.$323
- plus $3K from 32 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$5,68299%
- Education$771%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVie | 52 | $999 |
| UCB, Inc. | 23 | $553 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 14 | $519 |
| Argenx US, Inc. | 9 | $448 |
| EMD Serono, Inc. | 16 | $401 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 6 | $323 |
| Neurelis, Inc. | 12 | $311 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 9 | $211 |
| Novartis | 12 | $190 |
| Eisai Inc. | 9 | $178 |
| CSL Behring | 6 | $169 |
| Biogen | 8 | $161 |
| Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. | 6 | $139 |
| Amgen | 6 | $118 |
| SK Life Science, Inc. | 4 | $90 |
| TG Therapeutics, Inc. | 4 | $82 |
| Merz Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 3 | $80 |
| Grifols USA, LLC | 1 | $72 |
| Octapharma USA, Inc. | 2 | $70 |
| PTC Therapeutics, Inc. | 3 | $70 |
| Kyowa Kirin, Inc. | 3 | $65 |
| Pfizer | 3 | $60 |
| Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 3 | $55 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $44 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 2 | $41 |
| Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $41 |
| Boston Scientific | 2 | $35 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 2 | $32 |
| Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| Cycle Pharmaceuticals Inc | 1 | $27 |
| Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $27 |
| Madrigal Pharmaceuticals | 1 | $24 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. | 1 | $18 |
| Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Bayer | 1 | $15 |
| Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
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
$5,759 in reported general payments places this provider in the 60th percentile of 225 neurology 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Levetiracetam | 21 | $395 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 13 | $85 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other neurology in New Orleans
- John EnglandNew Orleans$268K
- Brian CopelandNew Orleans$211K
- Bridget BagertNew Orleans$198K
- Sheryl Martin-SchildNew Orleans$106K
- Piotr OlejniczakNew Orleans$82K
- Elizabeth CrabtreeNew Orleans$36K
- Caroline GoldinNew Orleans$36K
- Jesus LoveraNew Orleans$27K
- Julia StaischNew Orleans$22K
- Pooja Mohan RaoNew Orleans$17K
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.