Joel Starnes
Nephrology · Lubbock, TXNPI 1568670396
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 289 payments — averaging $21.66 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$1K
- AstraZeneca$1K
- Bayer$754
- Amgen$658
- Akebia Therapeutics Inc$258
- Travere Therapeutics, Inc.$248
- plus $2K from 20 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$6,08297%
- Education$1783%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 72 | $1,323 |
| AstraZeneca | 58 | $1,274 |
| Bayer | 28 | $754 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 32 | $658 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 13 | $258 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 9 | $248 |
| Nuwellis, Inc. | 2 | $232 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 9 | $184 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 10 | $168 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 6 | $143 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 6 | $143 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 7 | $124 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 5 | $120 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 6 | $105 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 4 | $75 |
| Novo Nordisk | 3 | $71 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 3 | $64 |
| GSK | 4 | $64 |
| Novartis | 2 | $62 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 3 | $60 |
| Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $29 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 2 | $26 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Sanofi | 1 | $19 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 1 | $17 |
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.
- Kerendia$246
- FARXIGA$123
- JYNARQUE$123
- AQUADEX SMARTFLOW CONSOLE$119
- Aquadex$113
How this compares
$6,260 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 1,070 nephrology providers in Texas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| SamscaTolvaptan | 12 | $363,249 |
| VelphoroSucroferric Oxyhydroxide | 47 | $144,761 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 67 | $72,502 |
| AuryxiaFerric Citrate | 15 | $48,657 |
| KerendiaFinerenone | 29 | $29,574 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 81 | $12,900 |
| ProsolParenteral Amino Acid 20% No.1 | 11 | $2,200 |
| Allopurinol | 144 | $1,497 |
| Midodrine Hcl | 18 | $1,422 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 49 | $638 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 84 | $580 |
| Losartan Potassium | 41 | $577 |
| Lisinopril | 68 | $459 |
| Carvedilol | 37 | $402 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 33 | $344 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc.Samsca | $26 | $363,24912 claims |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.Velphoro | $124 | $144,76147 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $1,274 | $72,50267 claims |
| Akebia Therapeutics IncAuryxia | $258 | $48,65715 claims |
| BayerKerendia | $754 | $29,57429 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 1,070 nephrology providers in Texas.
Other nephrology in Lubbock
- Pablo PergolaSan Antonio$14.2M
- German HernandezEl Paso$9.7M
- Sreedhar MandayamHouston$7M
- Tahira AlvesSan Antonio$6.1M
- Carl DukesSan Antonio$5.9M
- Chinonye Ogbonnaya-OdorSan Antonio$4.6M
- Marializa BernardoHouston$4.2M
- Judith BettsAustin$3.7M
- Wesley CalhounSan Antonio$3.5M
- Adam FromeThe Woodlands$3.1M
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.