Imran Shuja, MD
Nephrology · Covington, LANPI 1922493030
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.3% of the total across 248 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 35 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 19.9% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $1,660 and has fallen 68.4% since, to $524 in 2025.
Across 248 payments — averaging $20.73 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AstraZeneca$1K
- Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc.$593
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$519
- Amgen$441
- Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.$330
- Bayer$242
- plus $2K from 29 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$5,10299%
- Education$381%
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(2 entities) | 45 | $1,021 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 32 | $593 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 27 | $519 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 22 | $441 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 10 | $330 |
| Bayer | 13 | $242 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 12 | $213 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 12 | $201 |
| Pfizer | 9 | $164 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 6 | $129 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 5 | $127 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 5 | $115 |
| Novo Nordisk | 6 | $111 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 6 | $106 |
| Novartis | 3 | $94 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 6 | $94 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 4 | $93 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 3 | $62 |
| GSK | 2 | $60 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 4 | $57 |
| Nxstage Medical, Inc. | 1 | $53 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 2 | $48 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $37 |
| Dendreon Pharmaceuticals LLC | 1 | $30 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $27 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 1 | $19 |
| Cormedix Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $18 |
| Abbott | 1 | $18 |
| Gilead | 1 | $15 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Outset Medical Inc | 1 | $15 |
| AbbVie | 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.
- FARXIGA$107
How this compares
$5,141 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 206 nephrology providers in Louisiana.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 41 | $35,148 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 42 | $32,530 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 14 | $29,857 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 21 | $22,693 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 20 | $21,092 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 56 | $16,571 |
| LokelmaSodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate | 15 | $15,711 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 21 | $12,130 |
| VeltassaPatiromer Calcium Sorbitex | 12 | $11,688 |
| RetacritEpoetin Alfa-Epbx | 31 | $6,650 |
| Tolvaptan | 12 | $2,533 |
| Cinacalcet Hcl | 13 | $2,507 |
| Midodrine Hcl | 17 | $2,264 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 111 | $1,137 |
| Calcitriol | 65 | $1,114 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lilly USA, LLCTrulicity, Mounjaro | $213 | $50,94934 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Lokelma | $1,021 | $48,24157 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $94 | $35,14841 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $111 | $22,69321 claims |
| PfizerRetacrit | $164 | $6,65031 claims |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc.Tolvaptan | $57 | $2,53312 claims |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Valsartan | $27 | $10611 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 75th percentile of 206 nephrology providers in Louisiana.
Other nephrology in Covington
- Jon MaresCovington$103K
- David PowersCovington$35K
- Peter vanCovington$8K
- Sreedhara AllaShreveport$722K
- Anthony BlalockLafayette$350K
- Juan Carlos VelezNew Orleans$282K
- Jones SamuelBaton Rouge$207K
- Raja ZabanehShreveport$57K
- Michael TouchyNew Orleans$56K
- Kenneth AbreoShreveport$42K
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.