Nirmal Sunkara, MD
Interventional Cardiology · Orange, CANPI 1396908141
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
14 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medtronic at 46.6% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $3,538 and has fallen 92.2% since, to $276 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for interventional cardiology clinicians in CA, where the typical reported total is $8,581.
Across 149 payments — averaging $59.28 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$4K
- Abbott$2K
- Boston Scientific$1K
- Edwards Lifesciences$741
- Biotronik Inc.$137
- Angiodynamics, Inc.$123
- plus $310 from 8 others
Across 457 payments — averaging $642.22 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.
- Sanofi US Services Inc.$174K
- Novo Nordisk AS$92K
- AstraZeneca$13K
- Astrazeneca UK Limited$8K
- GSK$2K
- Eli Lilly$2K
- plus $2K from 1 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$3,67042%
- Food & beverage$5,16258%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 54 | $4,115 |
| Abbott | 23 | $2,351 |
| Boston Scientific | 38 | $1,056 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 17 | $741 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 1 | $137 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 1 | $123 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 3 | $67 |
| Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. | 2 | $55 |
| Pfizer | 4 | $54 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 1 | $45 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 2 | $32 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 1 | $27 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $17 |
| Chiesi 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
$8,832 in reported general payments places this provider in the 50th percentile of 585 interventional cardiology providers in California.
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 | 50 | $43,283 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 32 | $32,739 |
| Potassium Chloride | 52 | $1,467 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 61 | $1,058 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 58 | $799 |
| Losartan Potassium | 39 | $595 |
| Furosemide | 68 | $445 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 18 | $320 |
| Carvedilol | 28 | $295 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 18 | $288 |
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 | $54 | $43,28350 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 50th percentile of 585 interventional cardiology providers in California.
Other interventional cardiology in Orange
- Brian KolskiOrange$534K
- Jeffrey TylerOrange$411K
- Arnold SetoOrange$214K
- Antonio Halais FrangiehOrange$208K
- Matthew Pricela Jolla$2.3M
- Frederick St GoarMountain View$2.2M
- Saibal KarThousand Oaks$1.1M
- Rahul SharmaStanford$1M
- Puneet KhannaRancho Mirage$1M
- Dennis SheehanRedwood City$900K
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.