Karthikeyan Venkatachalam, MD
Nephrology · Flowood, MSNPI 1760747430
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 96.1% of the total across 176 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 28 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 8.9% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations.
Across 176 payments — averaging $25.87 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Boehringer Ingelheim$404
- Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc.$382
- Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc.$335
- Bayer$309
- AstraZeneca$306
- Amgen$299
- plus $3K from 22 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$4,37596%
- Education$1774%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 9 | $404 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 16 | $382 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 14 | $335 |
| Bayer | 17 | $309 |
| AstraZeneca | 18 | $306 |
| Amgen | 10 | $299 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 12 | $282 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 7 | $230 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 10 | $222 |
| Novartis | 8 | $215 |
| GSK | 4 | $202 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 10 | $191 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 4 | $174 |
| Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $131 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 7 | $127 |
| Nxstage Medical, Inc. | 2 | $126 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 7 | $118 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 2 | $114 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 6 | $112 |
| United Therapeutics Corporation | 1 | $83 |
| Recordati_rare_diseases_inc. | 2 | $36 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 2 | $32 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $12 |
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.
- JARDIANCE$242
- BENLYSTA$125
- XPHOZAH 30 MG$125
- Envarsus$117
- NXSTAGE SYSTEM ONE$102
How this compares
$4,552 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 105 nephrology providers in Mississippi.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| VelphoroSucroferric Oxyhydroxide | 44 | $100,517 |
| AuryxiaFerric Citrate | 50 | $86,069 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 88 | $72,613 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 66 | $49,945 |
| KerendiaFinerenone | 33 | $21,466 |
| EliquisApixaban | 15 | $13,166 |
| LokelmaSodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate | 17 | $10,831 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 104 | $10,721 |
| Calcium Acetate | 26 | $1,758 |
| Febuxostat | 26 | $1,308 |
| Calcitriol | 71 | $1,262 |
| Cinacalcet Hcl | 41 | $1,110 |
| Losartan Potassium | 99 | $799 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 17 | $710 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 36 | $419 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.Velphoro | $191 | $100,51744 claims |
| Akebia Therapeutics IncAuryxia | $127 | $86,06950 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $404 | $72,61388 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Lokelma | $306 | $60,77783 claims |
| BayerKerendia | $309 | $21,46633 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 80th percentile of 105 nephrology providers in Mississippi.
Other nephrology in Flowood
- Mohit AhujaFlowood$427K
- Steven WagnerFlowood$6K
- Francis PhillippiFlowood$6K
- Daphne BilbrewFlowood$6K
- Derrick TesseneerFlowood$5K
- Ami PatelFlowood$5K
- Lee FergusonFlowood$4K
- Lindsey NorrisFlowood$4K
- Mark KleinFlowood$3K
- Naveen SandhuFlowood$3K
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.