Joel Baranski
Nephrology · San Diego, CANPI 1548265234
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 42 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 18 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 18.3% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $623 and has fallen 79.8% since, to $126 in 2025.
Across 42 payments — averaging $37.71 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AstraZeneca$290
- Nxstage Medical, Inc.$277
- Amgen$259
- Bayer$125
- Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc.$125
- OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC$122
- plus $386 from 12 others
Across 174 payments — averaging $1434.42 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.
- Akebia Therapeutics Inc$118K
- Travere Therapeutics, Inc.$97K
- GSK$22K
- AstraZeneca$13K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,584100%
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) | 4 | $290 |
| Nxstage Medical, Inc. | 4 | $277 |
| Amgen | 7 | $259 |
| Bayer | 1 | $125 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 1 | $125 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 5 | $122 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 3 | $66 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 3 | $52 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 2 | $42 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 2 | $39 |
| Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $31 |
| GSK | 2 | $30 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 1 | $26 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $23 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $22 |
| Novartis | 1 | $21 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $19 |
| Strongbridge US Inc. | 1 | $16 |
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.
- ULTOMIRIS$126
- Kerendia$125
- TARPEYO$125
- Tavneos$117
- CARTRIDGES$107
- FLUIDS$107
- PURE FLOW$107
- System One$107
How this compares
$1,584 in reported general payments places this provider in the 55th percentile of 1,341 nephrology providers in California.
Other nephrology in San Diego
- Ravindra MehtaSan Diego$184K
- Ambarish AthavaleSan Diego$83K
- Juan QuevedoSan Diego$53K
- Anjay RastogiLos Angeles$2.2M
- Glenn ChertowStanford$2M
- Luis AlvarezPalo Alto$1.8M
- Jose MorfinSacramento$1M
- Rodolfo BatarseRancho Mirage$910K
- Vandana MathurWoodside$769K
- Yasir QaziOrange$618K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.