James Smelser, MD
Nephrology · Huntsville, ALNPI 1881685089
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (54.5%), consulting fees and speaking fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Nuwellis, Inc. accounts for 60.4% of it on its own, with 31 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $7,600 and has fallen 76.1% since, to $1,814 in 2025.
Across 416 payments — averaging $47.23 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Nuwellis, Inc.$12K
- Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.$1K
- AstraZeneca$972
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$922
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$883
- Amgen$597
- plus $3K from 26 others
Across 48 payments — averaging $3166.50 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.
- Bayer$84K
- Vertex$68K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$5,90030%
- Speaking & faculty fees$2,50013%
- Travel & lodging$3872%
- Food & beverage$10,70754%
- Education$1531%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nuwellis, Inc. | 17 | $11,857 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 49 | $1,016 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 50 | $972 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 44 | $922 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 53 | $883 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 25 | $597 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 21 | $536 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 63 | $463 |
| Novartis | 13 | $348 |
| Bayer | 12 | $248 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 6 | $244 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 12 | $237 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 5 | $229 |
| GSK | 12 | $196 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 3 | $152 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $116 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 4 | $115 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 4 | $92 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 4 | $89 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 2 | $45 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 2 | $40 |
| Novo Nordisk | 2 | $36 |
| Nxstage Medical, Inc. | 2 | $35 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 2 | $29 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $28 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 1 | $24 |
| Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $17 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Kyowa Kirin, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Cycle 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.
- Aquadex$8,841
- AQUADEX SMARTFLOW CONSOLE$2,613
- Veltassa$125
- Vafseo$123
- Parsabiv$122
- TARPEYO$122
- XPHOZAH 30 MG$121
- TERLIVAZ$118
- SYMPLICITY G3$116
- Korsuva$110
How this compares
$19,647 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 164 nephrology providers in Alabama.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lanthanum Carbonate | 22 | $32,513 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 20 | $13,209 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 43 | $7,662 |
| Losartan Potassium | 48 | $685 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 101 | $603 |
| Potassium Chloride | 26 | $469 |
| Calcitriol | 33 | $427 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 11 | $422 |
| Furosemide | 80 | $294 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 26 | $290 |
| Lidocaine-PrilocaineLidocaine/Prilocaine | 20 | $269 |
| Lisinopril | 40 | $254 |
| Spironolactone | 15 | $248 |
| Carvedilol | 19 | $155 |
| Hydrochlorothiazide | 24 | $52 |
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 | $972 | $13,20920 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 85th percentile of 164 nephrology providers in Alabama.
Other nephrology in Huntsville
- Michael QuadriniHuntsville$323K
- Carlo CastilloHuntsville$7K
- Todd BroomeHuntsville$7K
- Heather HaleyHuntsville$6K
- Saad RahmanHuntsville$6K
- Roger CoomerHuntsville$6K
- David BainsHuntsville$5K
- Dana RizkBirmingham$196K
- Sumeet MunjalMontgomery$191K
- Eric WallaceBirmingham$172K
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.