Vetta Higgs, MD
Medical Oncology · Columbus, GANPI 1851313993
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 48 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 24 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 11.9% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $708 and has fallen 96.2% since, to $27 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for medical oncology clinicians in GA, where the typical reported total is $5,509.
Across 48 payments — averaging $21.12 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Myriad Genetic Laboratories, Inc.$121
- AstraZeneca$97
- Amgen$73
- Pfizer$71
- Seagen Inc.$64
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$64
- plus $523 from 18 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,014100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Myriad Genetic Laboratories, Inc. | 2 | $121 |
| AstraZeneca | 6 | $97 |
| Amgen | 4 | $73 |
| Pfizer | 5 | $71 |
| Seagen Inc. | 2 | $64 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 3 | $64 |
| Merck | 3 | $57 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $53 |
| Incyte Corporation | 2 | $52 |
| Foundation Medicine, Inc. | 1 | $44 |
| AbbVie | 2 | $42 |
| GSK | 2 | $34 |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | 2 | $30 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $27 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $26 |
| Novartis | 1 | $24 |
| CTI Biopharma Corp. | 1 | $21 |
| Pharmacyclics LLC, An Abbvie Company | 1 | $20 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 1 | $20 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 1 | $17 |
| Exelixis Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Sanofi | 1 | $14 |
| Acrotech Biopharma Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Novocure Inc. | 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.
- myRisk$103
How this compares
$1,014 in reported general payments places this provider in the 20th percentile of 68 medical oncology providers in Georgia.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| RevlimidLenalidomide | 12 | $218,432 |
| ImbruvicaIbrutinib | 12 | $208,321 |
| CalquenceAcalabrutinib Maleate | 14 | $201,696 |
| VenclextaVenetoclax | 12 | $70,953 |
| EliquisApixaban | 36 | $32,958 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 20 | $17,097 |
| Letrozole | 70 | $1,611 |
| Anastrozole | 45 | $958 |
| Ondansetron OdtOndansetron | 71 | $950 |
| LoperamideLoperamide Hcl | 54 | $852 |
| Lidocaine-PrilocaineLidocaine/Prilocaine | 55 | $725 |
| Prochlorperazine Maleate | 52 | $640 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 14 | $512 |
| Morphine Sulfate | 12 | $463 |
| Morphine Sulfate ErMorphine Sulfate | 11 | $324 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Bristol Myers SquibbRevlimid | $30 | $218,43212 claims |
| Pharmacyclics LLC, An Abbvie CompanyImbruvica | $20 | $208,32112 claims |
| AstraZenecaCalquence | $97 | $201,69614 claims |
| AbbVieVenclexta | $42 | $70,95312 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $71 | $32,95836 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $53 | $17,09720 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 20th percentile of 68 medical oncology providers in Georgia.
Other medical oncology in Columbus
- Andrew PippasColumbus$11K
- Wilbur BassettColumbus$637
- Samir KhleifAugusta$337K
- Nabil SabaAtlanta$225K
- Sreekanth ReddyVidalia$116K
- Hagop YoussoufianDecatur$78K
- Suresh RamalingamAtlanta$75K
- Jonathan KaufmanAtlanta$73K
- Ragini KudchadkarAtlanta$69K
- Nisha JosephAtlanta$50K
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.