Elyas Safar, MD
Nephrology · Duluth, MNNPI 1356305932
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (54.2%), consulting fees and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Vifor Pharma, Inc. accounts for 88.2% of it on its own, with 22 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $12,704 and has fallen 99.6% since, to $55 in 2024. Among nephrology clinicians in MN 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 97 payments — averaging $188.16 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$16K
- Outset Medical Inc$331
- Amgen$294
- OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC$236
- GSK$235
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$208
- plus $857 from 17 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$4,20023%
- Speaking & faculty fees$9,88854%
- Travel & lodging$1,4768%
- Food & beverage$2,68215%
- Education$60%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 24 | $16,092 |
| Outset Medical Inc | 1 | $331 |
| Amgen | 9 | $294 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 17 | $236 |
| GSK | 4 | $235 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 6 | $208 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 1 | $125 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 4 | $111 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 1 | $110 |
| AstraZeneca | 6 | $103 |
| Novartis | 5 | $68 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 2 | $60 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $57 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 5 | $41 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $29 |
| AbbVie | 2 | $28 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 1 | $26 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 1 | $23 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Puma Biotechnology, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, 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.
How this compares
$18,252 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 208 nephrology providers in Minnesota.
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 | 40 | $31,982 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 28 | $18,119 |
| LokelmaSodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate | 14 | $11,374 |
| Desmopressin Acetate | 13 | $8,261 |
| Calcium Acetate | 38 | $2,925 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 25 | $2,270 |
| Torsemide | 89 | $1,925 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 82 | $610 |
| Losartan Potassium | 56 | $408 |
| Allopurinol | 63 | $359 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 40 | $309 |
| Lisinopril | 48 | $278 |
| Furosemide | 39 | $272 |
| Carvedilol | 25 | $233 |
| Midodrine Hcl | 13 | $149 |
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 | $103 | $43,35654 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $125 | $18,11928 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 208 nephrology providers in Minnesota.
Other nephrology in Duluth
- Prince SinghDuluth$26K
- Apurv KhannaDuluth$3K
- Shyam BhupalamDuluth$1K
- Sreedhar DevathiDuluth$1K
- Danijela MataicDuluth$555
- Neera DahlRochester$102K
- Fernando FervenzaRochester$102K
- Kirsten JohansenMinneapolis$101K
- Jeffrey KohenMinneapolis$56K
- James WetmoreMinneapolis$48K
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.