Sanjiv Sharma, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Bakersfield, CANPI 1336342138
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $4,155 of the $5,031 with a category attached, or 82.6%. It is spread thinly across 34 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 19.6% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $1,496 and has fallen 84.9% since, to $227 in 2025.
Across 175 payments — averaging $28.75 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- CSL Behring$988
- Amgen$669
- Abbott$438
- Merck$394
- Abiomed$318
- Penumbra, Inc.$228
- plus $2K from 28 others
Across 43 payments — averaging $11,610 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.
- GSK$298K
- Novartis$174K
- AstraZeneca$25K
- CSL Behring$2K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$85617%
- Food & beverage$4,15583%
- Education$200%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| CSL Behring | 5 | $988 |
| Amgen | 46 | $669 |
| Abbott | 13 | $438 |
| Merck | 21 | $394 |
| Abiomed | 3 | $318 |
| Penumbra, Inc. | 2 | $228 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 6 | $218 |
| Novartis | 13 | $213 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 2 | $177 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 4 | $153 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 8 | $150 |
| Pfizer | 9 | $143 |
| Boston Scientific | 3 | $141 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 3 | $91 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. | 4 | $77 |
| AstraZeneca | 3 | $76 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 4 | $62 |
| Irhythm Technologies, Inc. | 3 | $62 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 3 | $61 |
| Gilead | 3 | $57 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 2 | $39 |
| Cathworks, Inc. | 1 | $36 |
| Akcea Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $35 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 3 | $32 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Cardiva Medical, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 1 | $20 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals International, PLC | 1 | $17 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 1 | $15 |
| Lupin Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Bayer | 1 | $13 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
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.
- Impella$229
- Quadra Assura CRT Defibrillator$169
- Barostim Neo System$158
- Indigo System$132
- Vascepa$131
- CoreValve Evolut$119
How this compares
$5,031 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 2,184 cardiovascular disease 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 | 246 | $267,556 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 74 | $115,384 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 141 | $97,057 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 49 | $63,571 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 39 | $26,389 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 11 | $14,665 |
| VerquvoVericiguat | 11 | $8,076 |
| Ranolazine ErRanolazine | 79 | $5,743 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 518 | $5,519 |
| Nitroglycerin PatchNitroglycerin | 150 | $4,908 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 343 | $3,443 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 242 | $2,914 |
| Ezetimibe | 59 | $1,998 |
| SotalolSotalol Hcl | 156 | $1,887 |
| Isosorbide Dinitrate | 58 | $1,748 |
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 | $143 | $267,556246 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $213 | $115,38474 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Brilinta | $76 | $41,05450 claims |
| MerckVerquvo | $394 | $8,07611 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 65th percentile of 2,184 cardiovascular disease providers in California.
Other cardiovascular disease in Bakersfield
- Sarabjeet SinghBakersfield$151K
- Ted LoveHillsborough$102.8M
- Paul KurthSanta Barbara$6.1M
- Jason RogersSacramento$4.4M
- Matthew BudoffTorrance$3.6M
- Eric Topolla Jolla$2.2M
- Cathleen Bairey-MerzLos Angeles$1.2M
- Gagan SinghSacramento$1.2M
- Pam Taubla Jolla$1.2M
- Wilber SuStanford$1.1M
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.