Belen Tesfaye, MD
Gastroenterology · Washington, DCNPI 1225349020
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $4,352 of the $5,872 with a category attached, or 74.1%. 34 manufacturers reported payments, led by Merck at 30.8% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $2,798 and has fallen 59.5% since, to $1,133 in 2025.
Across 181 payments — averaging $32.44 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Merck$2K
- AbbVie$1K
- Madrigal Pharmaceuticals$350
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.$307
- Johnson & Johnson$275
- Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$233
- plus $2K from 28 others
Across 24 payments — averaging $1922.15 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.
- AbbVie$44K
- Corcept Therapeutics$2K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$371%
- Travel & lodging$1,45425%
- Food & beverage$4,35274%
- Education$301%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Merck | 20 | $1,806 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 44 | $1,226 |
| Madrigal Pharmaceuticals | 10 | $350 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 11 | $307 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 14 | $275 |
| Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 12 | $233 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 11 | $184 |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | 9 | $170 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 2 | $152 |
| Echosens North America, Inc. | 2 | $143 |
| Corcept Therapeutics | 3 | $128 |
| Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC | 1 | $120 |
| Novo Nordisk | 7 | $117 |
| Pfizer | 6 | $107 |
| Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 4 | $71 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 3 | $52 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 2 | $46 |
| Sanofi | 2 | $45 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 2 | $45 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 2 | $33 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $31 |
| Celltrion USA Inc. | 1 | $28 |
| Laborie Medical Technologies Corp. | 1 | $23 |
| Sandoz | 1 | $23 |
| Olympus America Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Amgen | 1 | $20 |
| Aimmune Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc | 1 | $18 |
| Capsovision, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Braintree Laboratories, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| GSK | 1 | $15 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Dynavax Technologies Corporation | 1 | $9 |
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
$5,872 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 77 gastroenterology providers in District of Columbia.
See all gastroenterology providers in District of Columbia →
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ClenpiqSod Picosulf/Mag Ox/Citric Ac | 19 | $3,247 |
| SutabSod Sulf/Pot Chloride/Mag Sulf | 12 | $1,918 |
| Sod Sulf-Potass Sulf-Mag SulfSodium, Potassium,mag Sulfates | 31 | $1,837 |
| Colestipol Hcl | 12 | $994 |
| Esomeprazole Magnesium | 20 | $753 |
| Omeprazole | 53 | $555 |
| Famotidine | 14 | $355 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 32 | $351 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.Clenpiq | $13 | $3,24719 claims |
| Braintree Laboratories, Inc.Sutab | $15 | $1,91812 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 70th percentile of 77 gastroenterology providers in District of Columbia.
Other gastroenterology in Washington
- James LewisWashington$1M
- John HoganWashington$354K
- Mark MattarWashington$349K
- Jessica KormanWashington$171K
- Mitesh PatelWashington$90K
- Sumona BhattacharyaWashington$87K
- Roshan BashirWashington$40K
- Bruce LuxonWashington$37K
- Lauren GeorgeWashington$32K
- Dominique HowardWashington$29K
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.