Rajinder Bhalla, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Houston, TXNPI 1861454217
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $2,140 of the $2,466 with a category attached, or 86.8%. It is spread thinly across 21 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 14.8% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $508 and has fallen 94.2% since, to $29 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for cardiovascular disease clinicians in TX, where the typical reported total is $3,258.
Across 101 payments — averaging $24.41 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$366
- Novartis$331
- Johnson & Johnson$328
- Merck$216
- Esperion Therapeutics, Inc.$201
- Boehringer Ingelheim$154
- plus $871 from 15 others
Across 5 payments — averaging $1481.63 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$7K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$2,14087%
- Other$32613%
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) | 3 | $366 |
| Novartis | 14 | $331 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 17 | $328 |
| Merck | 13 | $216 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 11 | $201 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 7 | $154 |
| Boston Scientific | 7 | $151 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 1 | $101 |
| ZOLL Circulation Inc | 1 | $98 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 5 | $84 |
| Abbott | 3 | $77 |
| Amgen | 4 | $75 |
| Pfizer | 3 | $51 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 3 | $50 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 1 | $34 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 2 | $33 |
| AstraZeneca | 2 | $30 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, PLC | 1 | $28 |
| Avinger Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $19 |
How this compares
$2,466 in reported general payments places this provider in the 40th percentile of 1,515 cardiovascular disease providers in Texas.
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 | 117 | $139,432 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 64 | $94,076 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 20 | $28,741 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 246 | $3,759 |
| Losartan Potassium | 303 | $3,278 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 86 | $3,245 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 227 | $2,158 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 86 | $1,910 |
| Ezetimibe | 83 | $1,768 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 116 | $1,494 |
| Ranolazine ErRanolazine | 22 | $1,424 |
| Potassium Chloride | 66 | $1,376 |
| Carvedilol | 140 | $1,306 |
| Diltiazem 24hr Er (La)Diltiazem Hcl | 13 | $1,284 |
| Diltiazem 24hr Er (Cd)Diltiazem Hcl | 32 | $1,207 |
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 | $51 | $139,432117 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $328 | $94,07664 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $331 | $28,74120 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 40th percentile of 1,515 cardiovascular disease providers in Texas.
Other cardiovascular disease in Houston
- Biykem BozkurtHouston$606K
- Reynolds DelgadoHouston$471K
- Christie BallantyneHouston$413K
- Asif AliHouston$411K
- Sanjay ManiarHouston$263K
- Joggy GeorgeHouston$231K
- Jerry EstepHouston$226K
- Stephen LittleHouston$144K
- Akira NishikawaHouston$109K
- Andres MesaHouston$103K
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.