Wenwu Zhang, PhD
Cardiovascular Disease · Shreveport, LANPI 1891737870
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (32.7%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 31 manufacturers reported payments, led by Edwards Lifesciences at 48.1% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $8,890 and has fallen 93.6% since, to $568 in 2025.
Across 189 payments — averaging $109.06 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Edwards Lifesciences$10K
- Medtronic$8K
- Abbott$1K
- Boston Scientific$240
- Inari Medical, Inc.$236
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$204
- plus $1K from 25 others
Across 45 payments — averaging $23,048 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.
- Novartis$971K
- AstraZeneca$36K
- Bayer$11K
- Amgen$6K
- Astrazeneca UK Limited$6K
- Merck$6K
- plus $2K from 1 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$6,75033%
- Speaking & faculty fees$3,57517%
- Travel & lodging$6,21230%
- Food & beverage$4,07520%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Edwards Lifesciences | 19 | $9,923 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 45 | $7,574 |
| Abbott | 10 | $1,085 |
| Boston Scientific | 17 | $240 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 15 | $236 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 11 | $204 |
| Stryker | 11 | $193 |
| Abiomed | 6 | $186 |
| Novartis | 8 | $160 |
| Pfizer | 9 | $127 |
| Endologix LLC | 1 | $109 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 3 | $92 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 1 | $67 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 10 | $59 |
| Kestra Medical Technology Services, Inc. | 2 | $48 |
| Philips North America LLC | 3 | $43 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 3 | $43 |
| Contego Medical, Inc | 2 | $24 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Itamar Medical Inc | 1 | $19 |
| Merck | 1 | $18 |
| Recor Medical Inc | 1 | $16 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 1 | $15 |
| Amgen | 1 | $14 |
| GE HealthCare | 1 | $13 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
| Irhythm Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $11 |
| Bardy Diagnostics, Inc. | 1 | $3 |
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
$20,612 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 281 cardiovascular 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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 235 | $197,171 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 37 | $52,037 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 50 | $37,198 |
| BrilintaTicagrelor | 52 | $27,731 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 14 | $14,992 |
| InvokanaCanagliflozin | 12 | $6,830 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 449 | $3,872 |
| Ranolazine ErRanolazine | 30 | $2,834 |
| Amiodarone Hcl | 46 | $2,292 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 142 | $1,658 |
| Propafenone Hcl | 32 | $1,650 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 161 | $1,112 |
| Prasugrel Hcl | 19 | $948 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 205 | $818 |
| Losartan Potassium | 104 | $753 |
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 | $127 | $197,171235 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $160 | $52,03737 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonInvokana | $43 | $6,83012 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 85th percentile of 281 cardiovascular disease providers in Louisiana.
Other cardiovascular disease in Shreveport
- Basel KasabaliShreveport$30K
- Tina FirouzbakhtShreveport$28K
- William EavesShreveport$15K
- Jagan BeedupalliShreveport$13K
- Mahin KhanShreveport$10K
- Keith FerdinandNew Orleans$239K
- Carl LavieNew Orleans$228K
- Imran ChaudryMonroe$202K
- Corey FosterLake Charles$158K
- George KaramBaton Rouge$110K
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.