Raghuram Chava, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Birmingham, ALNPI 1477791390
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (39.0%), travel and lodging and grants — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 36 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medtronic at 40.1% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $8,752 and has fallen 92.7% since, to $635 in 2025. Among cardiovascular disease clinicians in AL with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 209 payments — averaging $87.13 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$7K
- Edwards Lifesciences$3K
- Abbott$2K
- Cook Incorporated$840
- Inari Medical, Inc.$716
- Cook Medical LLC$528
- plus $3K from 30 others
Across 1 payment — averaging $7500.00 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.
- Philips North America LLC$8K
What the payments were for
- Grants$4,33324%
- Travel & lodging$6,31535%
- Food & beverage$7,11139%
- Education$4322%
- Gifts$200%
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 | 48 | $7,295 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 37 | $3,496 |
| Abbott | 7 | $2,319 |
| Cook Incorporated | 3 | $840 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 8 | $716 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 2 | $528 |
| Amgen | 11 | $351 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 11 | $256 |
| Abiomed | 2 | $252 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 8 | $247 |
| Pfizer | 13 | $237 |
| Novartis | 9 | $172 |
| Heartflow, Inc. | 3 | $170 |
| Boston Scientific | 3 | $165 |
| AstraZeneca | 10 | $151 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 1 | $147 |
| Cardiva Medical, Inc. | 1 | $115 |
| Cordis US CORP. | 1 | $79 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 1 | $63 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 3 | $62 |
| Bayer | 3 | $57 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 2 | $53 |
| Penumbra, Inc. | 2 | $50 |
| Novo Nordisk | 3 | $47 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $42 |
| Biosense Webster, Inc. | 1 | $40 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 2 | $38 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 2 | $36 |
| Bridgebio Pharma, Inc. | 2 | $35 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 2 | $34 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $26 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Teleflex LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Vivaquant Inc, Dba Rhythm Express | 1 | $7 |
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.
- RESOLUTE ONYX$4,375
- COREVALVE EVOLUT R$1,453
- Zilver Vena$840
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve$755
- FLOWTRIEVER CATHETER, S$635
- CT THROMBECTOMY SYSTEM KIT$635
- Zenith$366
- OPTIS$270
- Impella$252
- ENSITE$216
- ADVANCE$163
- Shockwave IVL System with the Shockwave C2 Coronary IVL Catheter$147
- CARDIOMEMS$138
- FFRct$116
- Cardiva VASCADE 6/7F VCS$115
- Repatha$107
How this compares
$18,211 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 292 cardiovascular disease providers in Alabama.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 233 | $147,242 |
| EliquisApixaban | 177 | $139,907 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 179 | $122,670 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 121 | $98,609 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 43 | $32,283 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 52 | $31,201 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 30 | $19,517 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 714 | $7,015 |
| Ranolazine ErRanolazine | 86 | $5,991 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 295 | $3,903 |
| Prasugrel Hcl | 43 | $3,445 |
| Nitroglycerin | 331 | $3,324 |
| Spironolactone | 557 | $2,931 |
| Losartan Potassium | 371 | $2,910 |
| Bumetanide | 94 | $2,474 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Brilinta | $151 | $166,759263 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $237 | $139,907177 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $38 | $122,670179 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $172 | $98,609121 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $256 | $32,28343 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 90th percentile of 292 cardiovascular disease providers in Alabama.
Other cardiovascular disease in Birmingham
- Vikram AroraBirmingham$271K
- Jason ThompsonBirmingham$248K
- Michael WilenskyBirmingham$241K
- Mustafa AhmedBirmingham$218K
- Frederick GaskinBirmingham$115K
- Pankaj AroraBirmingham$83K
- Thomas CawthonBirmingham$54K
- Weihan ChenBirmingham$51K
- Farrell MendelsohnBirmingham$51K
- Charles MooreBirmingham$47K
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.