Karen Tashima, MD
Infectious Disease · Providence, RINPI 1396740551
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $6,800 of the $8,499 with a category attached, or 80.0%. Every reported general payment came from a single manufacturer, Merck. Among infectious disease clinicians in RI 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 13 payments — averaging $653.76 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Merck$8K
Across 72 payments — averaging $52,087 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.
- Gilead$3.5M
- 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals$113K
- Valneva Austria GmbH$48K
- Astrazeneca UK Limited$36K
- Merck$21K
- Janssen Research & Development, LLC$15K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$6,80080%
- Travel & lodging$1,38316%
- Food & beverage$3164%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Merck | 13 | $8,499 |
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
$8,499 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 52 infectious disease providers in Rhode Island.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| BiktarvyBictegrav/Emtricit/Tenofov Ala | 281 | $1,183,448 |
| TriumeqAbacavir/Dolutegravir/Lamivudi | 100 | $391,771 |
| GenvoyaElviteg/Cob/Emtri/Tenof Alafen | 66 | $282,307 |
| DovatoDolutegravir Sodium/Lamivudine | 85 | $257,765 |
| OdefseyEmtricitab/Rilpiviri/Tenof Ala | 47 | $183,497 |
| TivicayDolutegravir Sodium | 48 | $172,126 |
| PrezcobixDarunavir/Cobicistat | 49 | $118,243 |
| PifeltroDoravirine | 42 | $72,513 |
| SymtuzaDarunavir/Cob/Emtri/Tenof Alaf | 12 | $55,016 |
| JulucaDolutegravir/Rilpivirine | 15 | $52,766 |
| Efavirenz-Emtric-Tenofov DisopEfavirenz/Emtricit/Tenofovr Df | 23 | $20,922 |
| Darunavir | 15 | $17,864 |
| Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate | 21 | $4,325 |
| Doxepin Hcl | 11 | $2,448 |
| ValacyclovirValacyclovir Hcl | 31 | $2,227 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| MerckPifeltro | $8,499 | $72,51342 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 52 infectious disease providers in Rhode Island.
Other infectious disease in Providence
- Kenneth MayerProvidence$129K
- Angela CaliendoProvidence$66K
- Rami KantorProvidence$3K
- Richa TandonProvidence$2K
- Samira Reyes DassumProvidence$2K
- Timothy FlaniganProvidence$2K
- Michelle LallyProvidence$1K
- Maria MilenoProvidence$516
- Melissa GaitanisProvidence$398
- Sophia PanaccioneProvidence$392
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.