Waref Azmeh, MD
Infectious Disease · Baton Rouge, LANPI 1467408492
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $1,582 of the $2,095 with a category attached, or 75.5%. 12 manufacturers reported payments, led by Napo Pharmaceuticals Inc at 26.3% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $526, 2.8 times the $189 reported in 2019.
Across 120 payments — averaging $17.46 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Napo Pharmaceuticals Inc$551
- Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$503
- Viiv Healthcare Company$375
- Merck$171
- Theratechnologies Inc.$135
- Gilead$111
- plus $249 from 6 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$30014%
- Speaking & faculty fees$965%
- Food & beverage$1,58276%
- Education$1166%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Napo Pharmaceuticals Inc | 19 | $551 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 49 | $503 |
| Viiv Healthcare Company | 24 | $375 |
| Merck | 9 | $171 |
| Theratechnologies Inc. | 4 | $135 |
| Gilead | 2 | $111 |
| Janssen Products, LP | 1 | $100 |
| Insmed, Inc. | 3 | $64 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 5 | $30 |
| AbbVie | 2 | $23 |
| Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Melinta Therapeutics, LLC | 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.
How this compares
$2,095 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 105 infectious disease 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 |
|---|---|---|
| BiktarvyBictegrav/Emtricit/Tenofov Ala | 698 | $2,759,255 |
| OdefseyEmtricitab/Rilpiviri/Tenof Ala | 450 | $1,662,324 |
| CabenuvaCabotegravir/Rilpivirine | 157 | $991,392 |
| DescovyEmtricitabine/Tenofov Alafenam | 370 | $805,852 |
| GenvoyaElviteg/Cob/Emtri/Tenof Alafen | 193 | $776,108 |
| JulucaDolutegravir/Rilpivirine | 199 | $700,540 |
| SymtuzaDarunavir/Cob/Emtri/Tenof Alaf | 107 | $498,959 |
| SerostimSomatropin | 26 | $433,967 |
| PifeltroDoravirine | 230 | $390,326 |
| TriumeqAbacavir/Dolutegravir/Lamivudi | 96 | $358,810 |
| SunlencaLenacapavir Sodium | 19 | $358,031 |
| IsentressRaltegravir Potassium | 171 | $340,780 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 263 | $284,915 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 229 | $221,901 |
| RukobiaFostemsavir Tromethamine | 22 | $200,033 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| GileadBiktarvy, Descovy, Genvoya, Sunlenca, Vemlidy | $111 | $4,748,1741,315 claims |
| Viiv Healthcare CompanyCabenuva, Juluca, Triumeq, Rukobia, Tivicay | $375 | $2,370,071512 claims |
| MerckPifeltro, Isentress, Delstrigo, Isentress Hd, Januvia | $171 | $976,976530 claims |
| Janssen Products, LPSymtuza | $100 | $498,959107 claims |
| Theratechnologies Inc.Egrifta Sv | $135 | $182,58625 claims |
| Napo Pharmaceuticals IncMytesi | $551 | $173,40154 claims |
| Insmed, Inc.Arikayce | $64 | $172,77211 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonPrezcobix, Xarelto | $30 | $160,18494 claims |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Nuzyra | $503 | $136,26630 claims |
| AbbVieLinzess, Vraylar | $23 | $102,022109 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 65th percentile of 105 infectious disease providers in Louisiana.
Other infectious disease in Baton Rouge
- Walter CampbellBaton Rouge$6K
- Maria Reyes AngelesBaton Rouge$2K
- Breanna CampbellBaton Rouge$1K
- Patrick NjokuBaton Rouge$979
- Scott AndersonBaton Rouge$937
- Shobha Rani VootukuriBaton Rouge$881
- Madeleine HeckBaton Rouge$611
- John NnadiBaton Rouge$491
- Hector Brunet RodriguezShreveport$592K
- Guillermo Padilla-PinedaShreveport$106K
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.