Karim El-Kersh, MD
Pulmonary Disease · Louisville, KYNPI 1659681351
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $129,550 of the $180,373 with a category attached, or 71.8%. 9 manufacturers reported payments, led by United Therapeutics Corporation at 52.6% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $45,773 and has fallen 52.0% since, to $21,983 in 2025. Among pulmonary disease clinicians in KY with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 223 payments — averaging $808.85 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- United Therapeutics Corporation$95K
- Merck$45K
- Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.$38K
- Acceleron Pharma, Inc.$2K
- Inspire Medical Systems, Inc.$143
- Bayer$79
- plus $147 from 3 others
Across 94 payments — averaging $2151.20 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.
- United Therapeutics Corporation$186K
- Janssen Research & Development, LLC$16K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$129,55072%
- Speaking & faculty fees$30,63517%
- Travel & lodging$14,4138%
- Food & beverage$5,7753%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| United Therapeutics Corporation | 121 | $94,957 |
| Merck | 54 | $44,893 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 41 | $38,018 |
| Acceleron Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $2,137 |
| Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. | 1 | $143 |
| Bayer | 1 | $79 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $77 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 2 | $49 |
| Sandoz | 1 | $21 |
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
$180,373 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 226 pulmonary disease providers in Kentucky.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Tyvaso DpiTreprostinil | 45 | $1,047,259 |
| OpsumitMacitentan | 34 | $421,850 |
| UptraviSelexipag | 17 | $358,333 |
| OpsynviMacitentan/Tadalafil | 14 | $181,257 |
| Ambrisentan | 11 | $42,153 |
| Tadalafil | 16 | $10,792 |
| Sildenafil Citrate | 17 | $3,408 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.Opsumit, Uptravi, Opsynvi | $38,018 | $961,43965 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 95th percentile of 226 pulmonary disease providers in Kentucky.
Other pulmonary disease in Louisville
- John McConnellLouisville$864K
- Harold HallerLouisville$340K
- Samantha BaahLouisville$226K
- Josephine MeiLouisville$101K
- Maroun GhosseinLouisville$34K
- Moutaz Al NabhanLouisville$24K
- Sally SulimanLouisville$21K
- Mark EsterleLouisville$19K
- Kenneth AndersonLouisville$16K
- Mohamed SaadLouisville$16K
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.