Saravanan Thiagarajan, MD
Rheumatology · Baton Rouge, LANPI 1154639839
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 235 payments — averaging $5302.73 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Novartis$712K
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$215K
- Pfizer$128K
- AbbVie$110K
- UCB SA$26K
- Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc.$22K
- plus $33K from 15 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$1,39520%
- Food & beverage$5,28976%
- Education$3124%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novartis | 42 | $712,390 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 12 | $215,301 |
| Pfizer | 30 | $127,592 |
| AbbVie | 87 | $110,425 |
| UCB SA | 3 | $25,609 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 1 | $22,300 |
| Eli Lilly | 2 | $16,500 |
| CSL Behring | 6 | $11,500 |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | 1 | $1,395 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 23 | $1,058 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 6 | $604 |
| Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC | 3 | $277 |
| Sanofi | 2 | $272 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 2 | $234 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 5 | $222 |
| UCB, Inc. | 4 | $144 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 1 | $111 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 1 | $96 |
| GSK | 2 | $68 |
| Qiagen, LLC | 1 | $23 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
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
$1,246,142 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 88 rheumatology providers in Louisiana.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| RinvoqUpadacitinib | 313 | $1,999,430 |
| Humira(Cf) PenAdalimumab | 83 | $594,863 |
| KineretAnakinra | 58 | $314,170 |
| Skyrizi PenRisankizumab-Rzaa | 12 | $232,098 |
| TremfyaGuselkumab | 16 | $205,240 |
| OfevNintedanib Esylate | 14 | $192,609 |
| Enbrel SureclickEtanercept | 27 | $191,363 |
| Cosentyx Sensoready (2 Pens)Secukinumab | 26 | $182,495 |
| Orencia ClickjectAbatacept | 28 | $152,821 |
| OpsumitMacitentan | 12 | $151,624 |
| Cimzia (2 Pack)Certolizumab Pegol | 26 | $149,371 |
| BenlystaBelimumab | 30 | $142,045 |
| Taltz AutoinjectorIxekizumab | 21 | $135,663 |
| TymlosAbaloparatide | 43 | $114,964 |
| Cosentyx (2 Syringes)Secukinumab | 15 | $113,969 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVieRinvoq, Humira(Cf), Savella | $110,425 | $2,098,979341 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonTremfya | $604 | $205,24016 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimOfev | $234 | $192,60914 claims |
| UCB, Inc.Cimzia (2 Pack) | $144 | $149,37126 claims |
| GSKBenlysta | $68 | $142,04530 claims |
| Radius Health, Inc.Tymlos | $111 | $114,96443 claims |
| NovartisCosentyx (2 Syringes) | $712,390 | $113,96915 claims |
| AmgenOtezla | $1,058 | $113,54123 claims |
| SanofiKevzara | $272 | $69,01116 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 88 rheumatology providers in Louisiana.
Other rheumatology in Baton Rouge
- Stephen LindseyBaton Rouge$3.6M
- Sean ShannonBaton Rouge$157K
- Randall BeylBaton Rouge$112K
- Chad HilleBaton Rouge$52K
- Ronald CerutiBaton Rouge$29K
- Joseph NesheiwatBaton Rouge$18K
- Jen ErbilBaton Rouge$17K
- Hector MenaBaton Rouge$15K
- Stephen PolletBaton Rouge$14K
- Khanh HoBaton Rouge$12K
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.