Theodore Richards, MD
Interventional Cardiology · Chattanooga, TNNPI 1891784518
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 98.6% of the total across 208 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 31 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 14.9% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $1,223 and has fallen 97.3% since, to $33 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for interventional cardiology clinicians in TN, where the typical reported total is $7,646.
Across 208 payments — averaging $19.90 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Novartis$616
- Boston Scientific$493
- Johnson & Johnson$365
- Abbott$362
- Astellas Pharma US Inc$235
- Shockwave Medical, Inc$187
- plus $2K from 25 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$4,08099%
- Education$601%
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 | 35 | $616 |
| Boston Scientific | 25 | $493 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 22 | $365 |
| Abbott | 16 | $362 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 11 | $235 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 1 | $187 |
| Abiomed | 5 | $174 |
| Penumbra, Inc. | 2 | $168 |
| Amgen | 9 | $156 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 11 | $132 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 7 | $130 |
| Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. | 6 | $129 |
| Merck | 9 | $125 |
| Pfizer | 8 | $117 |
| Celonova Biosciences, Inc. | 3 | $103 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 6 | $88 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 5 | $88 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 5 | $81 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $63 |
| AstraZeneca | 5 | $62 |
| GE HealthCare | 1 | $56 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 3 | $44 |
| Medtronic | 2 | $33 |
| Acist Medical Systems, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 2 | $24 |
| Stryker | 1 | $18 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 1 | $15 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $12 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 1 | $11 |
| Elutia, Inc. | 1 | $9 |
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
$4,140 in reported general payments places this provider in the 25th percentile of 207 interventional cardiology providers in Tennessee.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Diltiazem 24hr Er (Cd)Diltiazem Hcl | 15 | $184 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 11 | $130 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 21 | $99 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 11 | $73 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other interventional cardiology in Chattanooga
- Matthew WiisanenChattanooga$101K
- John GoldingChattanooga$21K
- Walter FewChattanooga$19K
- Jimmy KerriganNashville$644K
- Kashish GoelNashville$558K
- Brian JeffersonNashville$547K
- Malcolm FosterKnoxville$413K
- Mehul PatelGermantown$382K
- Michael MorseNashville$353K
- Nadia SuttonNashville$344K
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.