Kumar Venkatachalam, MD
Gastroenterology · Merrillville, INNPI 1154325421
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 608 payments — averaging $17.49 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$3K
- Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC$1K
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.$1K
- Nestle Healthcare Nutrition Inc.$922
- Johnson & Johnson$709
- Gilead$462
- plus $3K from 30 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$130%
- Food & beverage$10,43498%
- Education$1892%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 190 | $3,037 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 102 | $1,315 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 50 | $1,004 |
| Nestle Healthcare Nutrition Inc. | 47 | $922 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 39 | $709 |
| Gilead | 23 | $462 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 14 | $399 |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | 16 | $291 |
| Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 10 | $277 |
| Vivus LLC | 16 | $268 |
| Madrigal Pharmaceuticals | 10 | $244 |
| Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc | 15 | $232 |
| Aimmune Therapeutics, Inc. | 9 | $182 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 9 | $162 |
| Pfizer | 8 | $138 |
| Merck | 8 | $137 |
| Sanofi | 4 | $127 |
| Evoke Pharma, Inc. | 6 | $95 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 5 | $94 |
| Endogastric Solutions, Inc | 1 | $71 |
| Celltrion USA Inc. | 3 | $62 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 2 | $62 |
| Braintree Laboratories, Inc. | 3 | $54 |
| Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc | 3 | $48 |
| UCB, Inc. | 2 | $40 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 2 | $33 |
| Alfasigma USA, Inc. | 2 | $26 |
| Recordati_rare_diseases_inc. | 1 | $25 |
| QOL Medical, LLC | 1 | $19 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Sandoz | 1 | $15 |
| Redhill Biopharma Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Shield Therapeutics Inc | 1 | $14 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 1 | $13 |
| Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Lucid Diagnostics Inc. | 1 | $13 |
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
$10,636 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 323 gastroenterology providers in Indiana.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Humira(Cf) PenAdalimumab | 25 | $251,370 |
| CreonLipase/Protease/Amylase | 56 | $171,692 |
| LinzessLinaclotide | 161 | $146,435 |
| Humira(Cf)Adalimumab | 14 | $88,814 |
| XifaxanRifaximin | 19 | $52,490 |
| ZenpepLipase/Protease/Amylase | 17 | $26,900 |
| Budesonide EcBudesonide | 36 | $19,717 |
| IbsrelaTenapanor Hcl | 11 | $19,307 |
| Dexlansoprazole DrDexlansoprazole | 68 | $17,652 |
| Mesalamine | 44 | $17,555 |
| Ursodiol | 53 | $9,697 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 468 | $6,926 |
| Omeprazole | 708 | $5,946 |
| Balsalazide Disodium | 34 | $5,291 |
| Lansoprazole | 23 | $5,040 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVieCreon, Linzess, Humira(Cf) | $3,037 | $406,940231 claims |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLCXifaxan | $1,315 | $52,49019 claims |
| Aimmune Therapeutics, Inc.Zenpep | $182 | $26,90017 claims |
| Ardelyx, Inc.Ibsrela | $399 | $19,30711 claims |
| SandozLansoprazole | $15 | $5,04023 claims |
| Braintree Laboratories, Inc.Sutab | $54 | $2,80217 claims |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.Clenpiq | $162 | $2,22813 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 323 gastroenterology providers in Indiana.
Other gastroenterology in Merrillville
- Monika FischerIndianapolis$2.8M
- Douglas RexIndianapolis$2.3M
- Pankaj PatelSouth Bend$2.3M
- David PoundIndianapolis$1.4M
- Naga ChalasaniIndianapolis$1.1M
- Sashidhar SagiWestfield$1.1M
- Jonathan ObertNew Albany$758K
- David DresnerNew Albany$544K
- Marwan GhabrilIndianapolis$464K
- Matthew BohmWestfield$437K
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.