Walter Berkowitz
Cardiovascular Disease · Fort Lee, NJNPI 1538165469
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 95.6% of the total across 104 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 21 manufacturers reported payments, led by Novartis at 27.3% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $806 and has fallen 92.9% since, to $57 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for cardiovascular disease clinicians in NJ, where the typical reported total is $2,633.
Across 104 payments — averaging $12.35 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Novartis$351
- AstraZeneca$155
- Johnson & Johnson$133
- Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC$123
- Boston Scientific$75
- Amgen$75
- plus $373 from 15 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,22896%
- Education$574%
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 | 33 | $351 |
| AstraZeneca | 8 | $155 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 17 | $133 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 9 | $123 |
| Boston Scientific | 5 | $75 |
| Amgen | 6 | $75 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 4 | $50 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 2 | $48 |
| Bayer | 2 | $30 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 2 | $29 |
| Pfizer | 2 | $28 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 2 | $28 |
| Gilead | 2 | $27 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 2 | $24 |
| Portola Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 2 | $23 |
| Abbott | 1 | $18 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 1 | $12 |
| Medicure Pharma Inc. | 1 | $11 |
How this compares
$1,285 in reported general payments places this provider in the 30th percentile of 1,006 cardiovascular disease providers in New Jersey.
Other cardiovascular disease in Fort Lee
- Nathaniel LebowitzFort Lee$92K
- Marc CohenNewark$762K
- Peter FarrugiaColts Neck$600K
- Felix Dailey-SterlingGuttenberg$568K
- Ramzan ZakirNew Brunswick$342K
- Richard KovachBrowns Mills$300K
- Andrea RussoCamden$293K
- John KostisNew Brunswick$225K
- Dilip ViswanathHaddon Heights$167K
- David PowellSpringfield$162K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.