Kurt Sowers, MD
Nephrology · Hazard, KYNPI 1467550483
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $96,530 of the $118,517 with a category attached, or 81.4%. 21 manufacturers reported payments, led by AstraZeneca at 53.8% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $45,745 and has fallen 79.6% since, to $9,341 in 2025. Among nephrology 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 203 payments — averaging $583.83 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AstraZeneca$64K
- Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc.$21K
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$14K
- Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC$12K
- Bayer$4K
- Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc.$2K
- plus $1K from 15 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$6,4465%
- Speaking & faculty fees$96,53081%
- Travel & lodging$10,9499%
- Food & beverage$4,5644%
- Education$280%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZeneca | 116 | $63,764 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 17 | $21,249 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 20 | $13,978 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 9 | $12,491 |
| Bayer | 12 | $3,871 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 2 | $2,059 |
| La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company | 4 | $273 |
| Melinta Therapeutics, LLC | 3 | $272 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 4 | $217 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 1 | $68 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 4 | $62 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $50 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 2 | $29 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $21 |
| Amgen | 1 | $20 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 1 | $15 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $15 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 1 | $14 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 1 | $14 |
| CSL Behring | 1 | $11 |
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
$118,517 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 165 nephrology 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 |
|---|---|---|
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 513 | $513,601 |
| KerendiaFinerenone | 214 | $214,584 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 15 | $15,008 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 11 | $13,350 |
| DapagliflozinDapagliflozin Propanediol | 26 | $12,830 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 13 | $8,893 |
| Valsartan | 421 | $7,182 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 35 | $3,838 |
| Potassium Citrate ErPotassium Citrate | 33 | $3,148 |
| Calcitriol | 124 | $2,990 |
| Chlorthalidone | 158 | $2,599 |
| Potassium Chloride | 29 | $1,221 |
| Colchicine | 17 | $1,075 |
| Spironolactone | 56 | $999 |
| Midodrine Hcl | 32 | $988 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $63,764 | $513,601513 claims |
| BayerKerendia | $3,871 | $214,584214 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCTrulicity | $62 | $8,89313 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 165 nephrology providers in Kentucky.
Other nephrology in Hazard
- Danny WooLouisville$427K
- Dawn CasterLouisville$193K
- Javier Neyra LozanoLexington$181K
- Nizar AttallahLouisville$113K
- Ravinder BhagrathPikeville$84K
- Shafic Abdul Wahab El HindiLouisville$45K
- George AronoffLouisville$26K
- Sadiq AhmedLexington$17K
- Muhammad FarhanMt Sterling$13K
- Madhumathi RaoLexington$11K
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.