Puja Chitkara, MD
Rheumatology · Chula Vista, CANPI 1871718189
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 787 payments — averaging $184.14 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Amgen$44K
- Sanofi$38K
- UCB, Inc.$23K
- Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc.$16K
- GSK$12K
- Novartis$3K
- plus $10K from 27 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$18,91713%
- Speaking & faculty fees$100,41569%
- Travel & lodging$3,3732%
- Food & beverage$22,21115%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Amgen(2 entities) | 197 | $43,939 |
| Sanofi | 55 | $37,835 |
| UCB, Inc. | 75 | $22,617 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 38 | $15,844 |
| GSK | 45 | $11,706 |
| Novartis | 63 | $3,091 |
| AbbVie | 110 | $2,912 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $1,113 |
| Johnson & Johnson(3 entities) | 49 | $1,108 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 21 | $948 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 23 | $633 |
| Pfizer | 22 | $480 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 14 | $444 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 11 | $349 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 11 | $326 |
| Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC | 2 | $245 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 11 | $228 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 7 | $228 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 8 | $126 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 1 | $121 |
| Neurelis, Inc. | 1 | $118 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 4 | $84 |
| Medexus Pharma, Inc. | 4 | $63 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 2 | $54 |
| Coloplast | 1 | $53 |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | 2 | $46 |
| Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 2 | $42 |
| Bioventus LLC | 2 | $36 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 1 | $34 |
| Sobi, Inc | 1 | $27 |
| Organon | 1 | $25 |
| Gilead | 1 | $24 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
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
$144,915 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 808 rheumatology 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Humira(Cf) PenAdalimumab | 46 | $409,398 |
| Orencia ClickjectAbatacept | 54 | $299,035 |
| OtezlaApremilast | 33 | $174,030 |
| EnbrelEtanercept | 22 | $156,805 |
| Enbrel SureclickEtanercept | 21 | $149,275 |
| Enbrel MiniEtanercept | 20 | $144,906 |
| Xeljanz XrTofacitinib Citrate | 21 | $130,842 |
| RinvoqUpadacitinib | 13 | $128,419 |
| KevzaraSarilumab | 26 | $112,077 |
| ActemraTocilizumab | 16 | $68,080 |
| ProliaDenosumab | 38 | $64,820 |
| OlumiantBaricitinib | 12 | $37,946 |
| Hydroxychloroquine Sulfate | 332 | $17,335 |
| RasuvoMethotrexate/Pf | 19 | $13,410 |
| MethotrexateMethotrexate Sodium | 219 | $4,668 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AmgenOtezla, Enbrel, Prolia | $43,939 | $395,65593 claims |
| AbbVieRinvoq | $2,912 | $128,41913 claims |
| SanofiKevzara | $37,835 | $112,07726 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCOlumiant | $633 | $37,94612 claims |
| Medexus Pharma, Inc.Rasuvo | $63 | $13,41019 claims |
| Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc.Colchicine | $42 | $3,35353 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 85th percentile of 808 rheumatology providers in California.
Other rheumatology in Chula Vista
- Samy MetyasCovina$12.9M
- Christine ThaiHuntington Beach$8.5M
- Tien-I SuWhittier$8.4M
- Eric LeeUpland$6.9M
- Orrin TroumSanta Monica$6.9M
- Shirley PangFullerton$5.7M
- William RobinsonStanford$5.1M
- Dan laTujunga$5.1M
- Christina Charles-SchoemanLos Angeles$4.8M
- Suneet GrewalWest Hollywood$3.8M
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.