Brian Cousino, DO
Nephrology · Lansing, MINPI 1962775122
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $10,421 of the $14,414 with a category attached, or 72.3%. It is spread thinly across 28 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 20.2%. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $4,078 and has fallen 62.5% since, to $1,527 in 2025. Among nephrology clinicians in MI with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 474 payments — averaging $30.41 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Travere Therapeutics, Inc.$3K
- AstraZeneca$2K
- Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc.$2K
- Amgen$1K
- Bayer$962
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$826
- plus $5K from 22 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$3,63625%
- Food & beverage$10,42172%
- Education$3572%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 36 | $2,910 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 81 | $1,892 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 1 | $1,636 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 67 | $1,316 |
| Bayer | 50 | $962 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 35 | $826 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 26 | $768 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 22 | $633 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 20 | $495 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 25 | $448 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 13 | $401 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 10 | $303 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 14 | $262 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 10 | $261 |
| Novartis | 10 | $224 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 11 | $192 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 7 | $138 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 6 | $114 |
| Sanofi | 6 | $110 |
| Novo Nordisk | 4 | $100 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 5 | $93 |
| Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $79 |
| Cormedix Inc. | 3 | $77 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 4 | $77 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 2 | $46 |
| Ascendis Pharma Endocrinology Inc | 1 | $21 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $17 |
| AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 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
$14,414 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 325 nephrology providers in Michigan.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| JynarqueTolvaptan | 12 | $227,292 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 167 | $175,365 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 157 | $159,333 |
| KerendiaFinerenone | 127 | $130,236 |
| LokelmaSodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate | 60 | $27,499 |
| VeltassaPatiromer Calcium Sorbitex | 30 | $24,002 |
| DapagliflozinDapagliflozin Propanediol | 18 | $12,939 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 16 | $7,216 |
| Losartan Potassium | 178 | $1,589 |
| Calcitriol | 62 | $1,268 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 50 | $1,243 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 18 | $855 |
| Lisinopril | 133 | $702 |
| Diltiazem 24hr Er (Cd)Diltiazem Hcl | 20 | $690 |
| Potassium Chloride | 44 | $679 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.Jynarque | $448 | $227,29212 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Lokelma | $1,892 | $202,864227 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $303 | $159,333157 claims |
| BayerKerendia | $962 | $130,236127 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 325 nephrology providers in Michigan.
Other nephrology in Lansing
- Anne Marie PopLansing$6K
- Alexander YevzlinAnn Arbor$1.1M
- Muwaffaq SalamehBay City$164K
- Laura MarianiAnn Arbor$150K
- Crystal Gardner-MartinLivonia$140K
- Katherine KwonSaint Joseph$111K
- Anatole BesarabDetroit$102K
- Richard CrossSaint Clair Shores$96K
- Kausik UmanathDetroit$85K
- Joel TopfRoseville$79K
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.