Muhammad Cheema, MD
Nephrology · Arlington, TXNPI 1497966329
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 109 payments — averaging $46.29 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC$2K
- Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc.$290
- Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc.$270
- OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC$268
- Bayer$258
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$227
- plus $2K from 17 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$1,92538%
- Food & beverage$3,07861%
- Education$431%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 4 | $2,196 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 11 | $290 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 8 | $270 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 13 | $268 |
| Bayer | 8 | $258 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 11 | $227 |
| AstraZeneca | 8 | $225 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 3 | $201 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 3 | $157 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 6 | $141 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 5 | $118 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 4 | $115 |
| Novo Nordisk | 5 | $100 |
| Amgen | 4 | $93 |
| Novartis | 3 | $92 |
| Vertex | 1 | $53 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 2 | $52 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 2 | $49 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $44 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 2 | $32 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 2 | $29 |
| GSK | 1 | $21 |
| Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC | 1 | $15 |
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.
- ACTHAR$2,176
- Kerendia$125
- INJECTAFER$124
- TARPEYO$109
How this compares
$5,046 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 1,070 nephrology providers in Texas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 146 | $137,968 |
| VelphoroSucroferric Oxyhydroxide | 31 | $110,438 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 68 | $73,687 |
| LokelmaSodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate | 24 | $21,088 |
| RenvelaSevelamer Carbonate | 11 | $18,965 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 14 | $17,726 |
| RybelsusSemaglutide | 11 | $13,175 |
| VeltassaPatiromer Calcium Sorbitex | 11 | $11,659 |
| Calcium Acetate | 41 | $4,693 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 22 | $4,159 |
| Torsemide | 88 | $2,136 |
| Allopurinol | 33 | $2,005 |
| Droxidopa | 20 | $1,358 |
| Cinacalcet Hcl | 13 | $1,246 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 182 | $1,204 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $115 | $137,968146 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Lokelma | $225 | $94,77592 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic, Rybelsus | $100 | $30,90225 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 70th percentile of 1,070 nephrology providers in Texas.
Other nephrology in Arlington
- Bhasker MehtaArlington$2.2M
- Pablo PergolaSan Antonio$14.2M
- German HernandezEl Paso$9.7M
- Sreedhar MandayamHouston$7M
- Tahira AlvesSan Antonio$6.1M
- Carl DukesSan Antonio$5.9M
- Chinonye Ogbonnaya-OdorSan Antonio$4.6M
- Marializa BernardoHouston$4.2M
- Judith BettsAustin$3.7M
- Wesley CalhounSan Antonio$3.5M
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.