Venu Kakarala, MD
Internal Medicine · Slaughter, LANPI 1538166822
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 233 payments — averaging $17.69 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC$809
- GSK$545
- Pfizer$241
- AbbVie$217
- ITI, Inc. (d/b/a Intra-cellular Therapies, Inc.)$206
- Merck$204
- plus $2K from 26 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$4,06799%
- Education$251%
- Other$301%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 51 | $809 |
| GSK | 34 | $545 |
| Pfizer | 13 | $241 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 14 | $217 |
| ITI, Inc. (d/b/a Intra-cellular Therapies, Inc.) | 11 | $206 |
| Merck | 13 | $204 |
| Bayer | 3 | $199 |
| Novartis | 9 | $168 |
| Novo Nordisk | 10 | $167 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 9 | $148 |
| Abbott | 6 | $130 |
| Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc | 5 | $108 |
| AstraZeneca | 7 | $107 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 6 | $95 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 5 | $95 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 5 | $92 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 5 | $87 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 4 | $66 |
| Amgen | 3 | $66 |
| Insulet Corporation | 2 | $59 |
| Dexcom, Inc. | 2 | $45 |
| Biogen | 2 | $43 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 3 | $41 |
| Smith+Nephew | 2 | $39 |
| Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 2 | $24 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Eisai Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Cipher Pharmaceuticals US LLC | 1 | $14 |
| Viatris Specialty LLC | 1 | $14 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 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.
- Kerendia$110
How this compares
$4,122 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 1,528 internal medicine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 649 | $137,461 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 82 | $68,966 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 53 | $63,523 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 147 | $59,053 |
| RybelsusSemaglutide | 40 | $50,031 |
| LinzessLinaclotide | 68 | $45,196 |
| TrintellixVortioxetine Hydrobromide | 100 | $41,866 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 145 | $34,603 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 169 | $31,706 |
| JanumetSitagliptin Phos/Metformin Hcl | 28 | $27,007 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 47 | $26,599 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 48 | $25,006 |
| MyrbetriqMirabegron | 70 | $18,363 |
| VraylarCariprazine Hcl | 11 | $16,265 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 15 | $15,356 |
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 | $241 | $137,461649 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic, Rybelsus | $167 | $113,55493 claims |
| MerckJanuvia, Janumet, Janumet Xr | $204 | $99,203197 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Breo Ellipta, Shingrix | $545 | $84,477132 claims |
| AbbVieLinzess, Vraylar | $217 | $61,46179 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Breztri Aerosphere, Symbicort | $107 | $44,72680 claims |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.Trintellix | $148 | $41,866100 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $168 | $34,603145 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $13 | $31,706169 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $95 | $25,00648 claims |
| Astellas Pharma US IncMyrbetriq | $95 | $18,36370 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCMounjaro | $92 | $15,35615 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 80th percentile of 1,528 internal medicine providers in Louisiana.
Other internal medicine in Slaughter
- William SmithNew Orleans$50.5M
- Robert JeanfreauMetairie$13.4M
- Katherine PearceBaton Rouge$12M
- Ernest ThompsonBaker$2.1M
- Brian LewisNew Orleans$2M
- Otis BarnumNatchitoches$1.8M
- Satinder SainiCrowley$1.8M
- Randall MillerEunice$1.2M
- Donna RyanBaton Rouge$991K
- Steven DeitelzweigNew Orleans$939K
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.