Thomas Lester
Psychiatry · Orange, CANPI 1558685859
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 2 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. Every reported general payment came from a single manufacturer, Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.. That places this record below the midpoint for psychiatry clinicians in CA, where the typical reported total is $186.
Across 2 payments — averaging $72.36 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$145
Across 160 payments — averaging $4406.94 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.
- AbbVie$429K
- Janssen Research & Development, LLC$238K
- Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.$14K
- Sage Therapeutics, LLC$12K
- Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$11K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$145100%
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 2 | $145 |
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.
- REXULTI$124
How this compares
$145 in reported general payments places this provider in the 45th percentile of 4,954 psychiatry providers in California.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Bupropion XlBupropion Hcl | 16 | $231 |
| Trazodone Hcl | 15 | $85 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other psychiatry in Orange
- Gustavo AlvaOrange$5.8M
- Rimal BeraOrange$138K
- Steven PotkinOrange$108K
- John KooSan Francisco$3M
- Jason KelloggIrvine$2.7M
- Jonathan MeyerSan Diego$2.3M
- Charles Tuan-Tu NguyenIrvine$2.1M
- Manoj WaikarLos Gatos$1.9M
- Gerald MaguireSan Juan Capistraco$1.8M
- Salima BrillmanSunnyvale$1.4M
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.