Ricardo Alvarez, MD
Medical Oncology · Houston, TXNPI 1649441601
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $414,591 of the $552,526 with a category attached, or 75.0%. 60 manufacturers reported payments, led by Gilead at 49.7% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $150,345, 4.4 times the $34,412 reported in 2019. Among medical oncology clinicians in TX with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 840 payments — averaging $657.77 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Gilead$275K
- Stemline Therapeutics Inc.$113K
- AstraZeneca$47K
- Eisai Inc.$33K
- Daiichi Sankyo Inc.$25K
- Puma Biotechnology, Inc.$23K
- plus $37K from 54 others
Across 281 payments — averaging $12,517 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$1.3M
- Daiichi Sankyo Inc.$606K
- Daiichi Sankyo Company LTD$569K
- AstraZeneca$241K
- Sanofi US Services Inc.$225K
- Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Inc.$134K
- plus $430K from 14 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$38,5747%
- Speaking & faculty fees$414,59175%
- Grants$2500%
- Travel & lodging$80,63115%
- Food & beverage$18,2423%
- Education$2390%
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.
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
$552,526 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 495 medical oncology 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 |
|---|---|---|
| ErleadaApalutamide | 48 | $683,248 |
| OrserduElacestrant Hcl | 12 | $261,708 |
| TagrissoOsimertinib Mesylate | 15 | $242,596 |
| KisqaliRibociclib Succinate | 13 | $194,954 |
| Sandostatin Lar DepotOctreotide Acetate,mi-Spheres | 13 | $179,000 |
| ImbruvicaIbrutinib | 12 | $173,512 |
| Abiraterone Acetate | 13 | $40,655 |
| Granisetron Hcl | 18 | $9,909 |
| Aprepitant | 22 | $8,172 |
| Anastrozole | 80 | $1,574 |
| Tamoxifen Citrate | 18 | $825 |
| Dexamethasone | 46 | $800 |
| Letrozole | 29 | $769 |
| Alendronate Sodium | 60 | $559 |
| Ondansetron OdtOndansetron | 28 | $531 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson & JohnsonErleada | $684 | $683,24848 claims |
| NovartisKisqali, Sandostatin Lar Depot | $15,743 | $373,95426 claims |
| Stemline Therapeutics Inc.Orserdu | $112,786 | $261,70812 claims |
| AstraZenecaTagrisso | $47,035 | $242,59615 claims |
| Pharmacyclics LLC, An Abbvie CompanyImbruvica | $130 | $173,51212 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCOlanzapine | $71 | $22239 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 95th percentile of 495 medical oncology providers in Texas.
Other medical oncology in Houston
- Roy HerbstHouston$1.9M
- Maen AbdelrahimHouston$999K
- John HeymachHouston$726K
- Putao CenHouston$720K
- Hagop KantarjianHouston$559K
- Eleni EfstathiouHouston$519K
- Srdan VerstovsekHouston$464K
- Guillermo Garcia-ManeroHouston$454K
- Jason WestinHouston$407K
- Eric JonaschHouston$374K
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.