Ariel Velasco, MD
Nephrology · Houston, TXNPI 1851361703
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 99 payments — averaging $544.38 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AstraZeneca$52K
- Amgen$413
- Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc.$246
- Travere Therapeutics, Inc.$203
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$192
- Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC$152
- plus $616 from 15 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$2,04095%
- Education$1015%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZeneca | 12 | $52,070 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 24 | $413 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 10 | $246 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 9 | $203 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 10 | $192 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 3 | $152 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 4 | $103 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 4 | $88 |
| Bayer | 4 | $73 |
| Sanofi | 2 | $49 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 3 | $49 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 2 | $38 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 2 | $37 |
| GSK | 2 | $35 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 2 | $32 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $26 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $25 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $16 |
| Abbott | 1 | $14 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 1 | $12 |
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.
- LOKELMA$125
How this compares
$53,893 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 1,070 nephrology providers in Texas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 254 | $259,313 |
| LokelmaSodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate | 53 | $67,521 |
| VelphoroSucroferric Oxyhydroxide | 11 | $36,169 |
| KerendiaFinerenone | 27 | $32,108 |
| Cinacalcet Hcl | 50 | $25,029 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 44 | $21,173 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 16 | $15,655 |
| VeltassaPatiromer Calcium Sorbitex | 13 | $12,338 |
| Calcitriol | 651 | $10,168 |
| Potassium Citrate ErPotassium Citrate | 60 | $7,245 |
| RetacritEpoetin Alfa-Epbx | 12 | $4,968 |
| Calcium Acetate | 39 | $3,596 |
| Terazosin Hcl | 114 | $2,278 |
| Losartan Potassium | 183 | $1,777 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 36 | $1,593 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Lokelma | $52,070 | $326,833307 claims |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.Velphoro | $88 | $36,16911 claims |
| BayerKerendia | $73 | $32,10827 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $37 | $15,65516 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 1,070 nephrology providers in Texas.
Other nephrology in Houston
- Sreedhar MandayamHouston$7M
- Marializa BernardoHouston$4.2M
- Stephen FademHouston$2.4M
- Biruh WorkenehHouston$1.8M
- Rahul PandeyHouston$1.6M
- Christopher KwohHouston$928K
- George NassarHouston$772K
- June YaoHouston$651K
- Maher BisharaHouston$489K
- Wolfgang WinkelmayerHouston$462K
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.