Stephen Laga, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Pleasant Prairie, WINPI 1952361818
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 59 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 15 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 19.7% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. 2025 is the largest year on record at $838, more than ten times the $14 reported in 2020. That places this record below the midpoint for thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in WI, where the typical reported total is $5,625.
Across 59 payments — averaging $22.85 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$266
- Recor Medical Inc$202
- Novo Nordisk$170
- Heartflow, Inc.$150
- AstraZeneca$115
- Novartis$92
- plus $354 from 9 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,348100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 13 | $266 |
| Recor Medical Inc | 6 | $202 |
| Novo Nordisk | 8 | $170 |
| Heartflow, Inc. | 7 | $150 |
| AstraZeneca | 6 | $115 |
| Novartis | 4 | $92 |
| Abbott | 4 | $86 |
| Merck | 4 | $78 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $70 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| Bayer | 1 | $23 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $14 |
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
$1,348 in reported general payments places this provider in the 25th percentile of 97 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Wisconsin.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Wisconsin →
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.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Pleasant Prairie
- Mario GasparriMilwaukee$516K
- David DemosMilwaukee$446K
- William TisolMilwaukee$339K
- John JohnkoskiWausau$124K
- Ghulam MurtazaMadison$106K
- Robert FerranteAppleton$73K
- Robert WiechmannEau Claire$68K
- Justin WatsonMadison$35K
- Ronald MilesWausau$34K
- Thomas CarmodyEau Claire$33K
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.