Stephen Little, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Houston, TXNPI 1659412336
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (56.5%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Abbott accounts for 84.3% of it on its own, with 19 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $105,922, 7.9 times the $13,428 reported in 2019. Among cardiovascular disease 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 300 payments — averaging $479.64 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$121K
- Medtronic$11K
- Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.$7K
- Edwards Lifesciences$3K
- Boston Scientific$161
- GE HealthCare$145
- plus $645 from 14 others
Across 55 payments — averaging $12,046 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.
- Abbott$514K
- Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.$85K
- Medtronic$64K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$81,26356%
- Speaking & faculty fees$11,2408%
- Travel & lodging$38,40427%
- Food & beverage$12,9869%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 194 | $121,371 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 62 | $11,306 |
| Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. | 9 | $7,123 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 10 | $3,143 |
| Boston Scientific | 3 | $161 |
| GE HealthCare | 3 | $145 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $122 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 1 | $119 |
| Jenavalve Technology, Inc. | 2 | $103 |
| Pfizer | 4 | $58 |
| Heartflow, Inc. | 1 | $49 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 2 | $37 |
| Bridgebio Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $31 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 1 | $26 |
| Bracco Diagnostics Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $20 |
| Tactile Systems Technology Inc | 1 | $19 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 1 | $15 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Amgen | 1 | $13 |
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.
- MitraClip$62,786
- TRICLIP$31,771
- Mitra Clip system$12,425
- CardioMEMS HF System$8,395
- ACUSON SC2000 Diagnostic Ultrasound System$5,440
- CoreValve Evolut$4,423
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve$1,875
- COREVALVE EVOLUT R$934
- Tricuspid Valve Repair System$888
- MitraClip System$422
- NAVITOR$317
- Avalus$283
- THORATEC HEARTMATE 3 LVAS IMPLANT KIT$240
- APOLLOTM$210
- ONYX FRONTIER$176
- SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA$151
- MELODY TPV$150
- FLOSEAL$122
- WATCHMAN Access System$120
- Perceval$119
How this compares
$143,893 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 1,515 cardiovascular disease 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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 15 | $14,114 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 23 | $311 |
| Losartan Potassium | 19 | $240 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 11 | $187 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 15 | $172 |
| Furosemide | 13 | $166 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 15 | $160 |
| Carvedilol | 14 | $96 |
| Spironolactone | 17 | $68 |
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 | $58 | $14,11415 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 1,515 cardiovascular disease providers in Texas.
Other cardiovascular disease in Houston
- Biykem BozkurtHouston$606K
- Reynolds DelgadoHouston$471K
- Christie BallantyneHouston$413K
- Asif AliHouston$411K
- Sanjay ManiarHouston$263K
- Joggy GeorgeHouston$231K
- Jerry EstepHouston$226K
- Akira NishikawaHouston$109K
- Andres MesaHouston$103K
- Dipan ShahHouston$90K
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.