Melanie Samardzija, PhD
Nurse Practitioner · Chicago, ILNPI 1861658445
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $28,975 of the $42,386 with a category attached, or 68.4%. 7 manufacturers reported payments, led by AbbVie at 43.9% of the total. Among nurse practitioner clinicians in IL 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 114 payments — averaging $371.81 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$19K
- Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc$13K
- Gilead$10K
- Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$680
- Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc.$392
- Novo Nordisk$296
- plus $155 from 1 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$28,97568%
- Travel & lodging$9,41222%
- Food & beverage$3,9999%
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 | 53 | $18,592 |
| Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc | 22 | $12,608 |
| Gilead | 26 | $9,663 |
| Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 4 | $680 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 3 | $392 |
| Novo Nordisk | 4 | $296 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 2 | $155 |
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
$42,386 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 4,869 nurse practitioner providers in Illinois.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| XifaxanRifaximin | 26 | $70,596 |
| RybelsusSemaglutide | 11 | $10,352 |
| Ursodiol | 18 | $1,844 |
| Mycophenolate Mofetil | 11 | $858 |
| Spironolactone | 21 | $475 |
| Bumetanide | 13 | $406 |
| Gavilyte-GPeg3350/Sod Sulf,bicarb,cl/Kcl | 18 | $175 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 20 | $72 |
| Trazodone Hcl | 12 | $71 |
| Furosemide | 15 | $41 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLCXifaxan | $155 | $70,59626 claims |
| Novo NordiskRybelsus | $296 | $10,35211 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 4,869 nurse practitioner providers in Illinois.
Other nurse practitioner in Chicago
- Erika VuckoChicago$76K
- Michelle MunroeChicago$64K
- Rana KennellyChicago$42K
- Fiona LynnChicago$41K
- Melissa DuckettChicago$30K
- Allison MorinChicago$27K
- Christy DavisChicago$19K
- Ariel HughChicago$17K
- Kelly DuganChicago$15K
- Annette PrihodaChicago$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.