Arun Softa, MD
Internal Medicine · Bakersfield, CANPI 1902954738
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 253 payments — averaging $21.10 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AstraZeneca$1K
- Boehringer Ingelheim$748
- Amgen$479
- Lilly USA, LLC$395
- Novo Nordisk$365
- Pfizer$213
- plus $2K from 31 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$5,333100%
- Education$60%
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 | 63 | $1,301 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 39 | $748 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 13 | $479 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 28 | $395 |
| Novo Nordisk | 24 | $365 |
| Pfizer | 11 | $213 |
| Nevro Corp. | 2 | $153 |
| GSK | 8 | $152 |
| Bayer | 6 | $146 |
| Biosense Webster, Inc. | 2 | $143 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 2 | $136 |
| Merck | 8 | $130 |
| Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 6 | $100 |
| Abbott | 4 | $81 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 4 | $79 |
| Dexcom, Inc. | 4 | $75 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 2 | $69 |
| Novartis | 2 | $58 |
| Dynavax Technologies Corporation | 2 | $51 |
| Exact Sciences | 2 | $49 |
| Rxsight Inc | 1 | $48 |
| Corcept Therapeutics | 2 | $43 |
| Kyowa Kirin, Inc. | 2 | $40 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 2 | $36 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 2 | $33 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $27 |
| Vertex | 1 | $23 |
| Electromed, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $19 |
| Currax Pharmaceuticals LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 1 | $15 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $14 |
| Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. | 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.
- KRYSTEXXA$250
- JARDIANCE$122
- LOKELMA$117
- Vascepa$114
- QDOT MICRO$104
How this compares
$5,339 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 13,581 internal medicine providers in California.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| OzempicSemaglutide | 162 | $159,278 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 171 | $145,531 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 81 | $58,034 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 54 | $47,208 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 40 | $44,817 |
| Bydureon BciseExenatide Microspheres | 47 | $36,580 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 20 | $24,520 |
| EliquisApixaban | 21 | $17,061 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 21 | $14,032 |
| Basaglar Kwikpen U-100Insulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 47 | $13,331 |
| Ondansetron Hcl | 15 | $8,660 |
| Fiasp FlextouchInsulin Aspart (Niacinamide) | 14 | $6,658 |
| Breo ElliptaFluticasone/Vilanterol | 16 | $6,107 |
| Albuterol Sulfate HfaAlbuterol Sulfate | 137 | $4,315 |
| Lantus SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 34 | $3,100 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $365 | $159,278162 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $748 | $145,531171 claims |
| MerckJanuvia | $130 | $58,03481 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $1,301 | $47,20854 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCTrulicity | $395 | $44,81740 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $14 | $24,52020 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Breo Ellipta | $152 | $20,13937 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $213 | $17,06121 claims |
| AbbVieSynthroid | $19 | $97316 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 90th percentile of 13,581 internal medicine providers in California.
Other internal medicine in Bakersfield
- Andrew ChengSouth San Francisco$55.1M
- Joel NeutelTustin$34.9M
- Donald BrandonSan Diego$34M
- William TownerLos Angeles$27.4M
- Rahul AggarwalSan Francisco$24M
- Masoud AzizadNorthridge$21.1M
- Helen StaceyWalnut Creek$20.4M
- Rohit Loombala Jolla$15.1M
- Zeid KayaliColton$14.2M
- Alexandra DrakakiSanta Monica$14.2M
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.