Sara Balakrishnan, PA
Physician Assistant · Hamden, CTNPI 1750862611
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 97.1% of the total across 716 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 26 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 17.6% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $4,571 and has fallen 71.2% since, to $1,315 in 2025. Among physician assistant clinicians in CT 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 716 payments — averaging $18.83 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$2K
- Johnson & Johnson$2K
- Pfizer$1K
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$1K
- Lilly USA, LLC$838
- Amgen$694
- plus $6K from 20 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$13,09097%
- Education$3903%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVie | 131 | $2,373 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 64 | $1,596 |
| Pfizer | 65 | $1,233 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 52 | $1,045 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 45 | $838 |
| Amgen | 37 | $694 |
| Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. | 30 | $630 |
| Novartis | 38 | $590 |
| Incyte Corporation | 36 | $545 |
| LEO Pharma Inc. | 34 | $525 |
| Sanofi | 18 | $475 |
| Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. | 25 | $442 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 21 | $409 |
| Dermavant Sciences, Inc. | 28 | $374 |
| Ortho Dermatologics, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 12 | $349 |
| Galderma Laboratories, L.p. | 19 | $287 |
| EPI Health, LLC | 17 | $201 |
| Mayne Pharma Commercial LLC | 8 | $164 |
| VYNE Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 7 | $162 |
| UCB, Inc. | 5 | $133 |
| Organon | 9 | $110 |
| Almirall LLC | 5 | $101 |
| Journey Medical Corporation | 4 | $81 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 4 | $80 |
| Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
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
$13,480 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 1,795 physician assistant providers in Connecticut.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dupixent PenDupilumab | 18 | $68,361 |
| Fluorouracil | 56 | $3,989 |
| Tacrolimus | 25 | $2,824 |
| Pimecrolimus | 13 | $1,937 |
| Ketoconazole | 132 | $1,700 |
| Clobetasol Propionate | 48 | $1,500 |
| Clindamycin Phosphate | 21 | $1,481 |
| Metronidazole | 28 | $1,387 |
| Triamcinolone Acetonide | 96 | $673 |
| Mometasone Furoate | 29 | $392 |
| Mupirocin | 54 | $343 |
| Ciclopirox | 15 | $324 |
| Doxycycline Hyclate | 19 | $321 |
| Hydrocortisone | 48 | $270 |
| Cephalexin | 11 | $222 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other physician assistant in Hamden
- Franklin DedominicisHamden$10K
- Jessica NursickHamden$10K
- Gary SpinnerBridgeport$119K
- Jordan MarcouTrumbull$44K
- Mary ElliottGuilford$43K
- Christopher ThompsonGroton$42K
- Michael LalondeNew Haven$35K
- Kristine LaneMiddletown$30K
- Kathryn MidgleyNew Haven$28K
- Richard MoroPlainfield$25K
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.