Elias Rifkah, MD
Family Medicine · Altoona, PANPI 1639240344
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 363 payments — averaging $22.11 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Novo Nordisk$2K
- Johnson & Johnson$967
- GSK$960
- Lilly USA, LLC$816
- AstraZeneca$713
- AbbVie$485
- plus $2K from 26 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$8,027100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novo Nordisk | 107 | $1,850 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 48 | $967 |
| GSK | 28 | $960 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 41 | $816 |
| AstraZeneca | 15 | $713 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 21 | $485 |
| Pfizer | 18 | $390 |
| Novartis | 19 | $286 |
| Amgen | 10 | $178 |
| Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $168 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 8 | $130 |
| Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $125 |
| Mylan Specialty L.p. | 1 | $125 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 3 | $124 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 6 | $103 |
| Philips North America LLC | 5 | $83 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 5 | $82 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 4 | $61 |
| Exact Sciences | 3 | $58 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 1 | $54 |
| Merck | 3 | $43 |
| Sanofi Pasteur Inc. | 2 | $38 |
| Biogen | 2 | $31 |
| Bayer | 1 | $24 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Abbott | 1 | $21 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $16 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 1 | $13 |
| Insmed, Inc. | 1 | $11 |
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.
- AREXVY$250
- Yupelri$125
- TEZSPIRE$125
- NURTEC ODT$125
- BREZTRI$125
- VOQUEZNA$125
- SUNOSI$125
- TRELEGY ELLIPTA$121
- XARELTO$109
- MOUNJARO$100
How this compares
$8,027 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 4,967 family medicine providers in Pennsylvania.
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 | 223 | $158,375 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 78 | $80,504 |
| RybelsusSemaglutide | 56 | $71,355 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 83 | $65,249 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 76 | $56,724 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 27 | $32,742 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 27 | $23,908 |
| Spiriva RespimatTiotropium Bromide | 34 | $23,786 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 25 | $19,649 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 33 | $17,809 |
| ArexvyRsvpref3 Antigen/As01e/Pf | 57 | $17,758 |
| Breo ElliptaFluticasone/Vilanterol | 27 | $13,364 |
| LinzessLinaclotide | 25 | $12,355 |
| TradjentaLinagliptin | 13 | $11,940 |
| Lantus SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 103 | $9,926 |
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 | $390 | $158,375223 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic, Rybelsus | $1,850 | $151,858134 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Arexvy, Breo Ellipta, Shingrix | $960 | $101,334189 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $967 | $56,72476 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimSpiriva Respimat, Jardiance, Tradjenta | $82 | $53,53580 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCMounjaro | $816 | $32,74227 claims |
| MerckJanuvia | $43 | $23,90827 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $286 | $19,64925 claims |
| AbbVieLinzess, Lumigan | $485 | $16,72136 claims |
| AstraZenecaBrilinta | $713 | $5,19812 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 4,967 family medicine providers in Pennsylvania.
Other family medicine in Altoona
- Kem YenalPhila$12.6M
- Marcy FleckerSmithfield$6.9M
- Tiffany PlutoScottdale$4.8M
- Bryce PalchickPittsburgh$4.7M
- Harris CohenHorsham$3.7M
- Shari RozenPittsburgh$2.9M
- Richard CookUniontown$2.1M
- Bruce GebhardtErie$2.1M
- Peter CognettiScranton$1.9M
- Bradley FoxErie$1.7M
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.