Nehal Desai, MD
Internal Medicine · Columbia, SCNPI 1801855622
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 268 payments — averaging $16.64 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Novo Nordisk$498
- Pfizer$464
- Lilly USA, LLC$381
- AbbVie$369
- AstraZeneca$355
- Amgen$303
- plus $2K from 31 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$4,447100%
- Education$140%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novo Nordisk | 33 | $498 |
| Pfizer | 29 | $464 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 24 | $381 |
| AbbVie | 25 | $369 |
| AstraZeneca | 23 | $355 |
| Amgen | 19 | $303 |
| Abbott | 12 | $228 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 14 | $221 |
| Novartis | 9 | $192 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 11 | $184 |
| Exact Sciences | 8 | $138 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 6 | $92 |
| Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 4 | $82 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 5 | $80 |
| Corcept Therapeutics | 5 | $77 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. | 4 | $75 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 3 | $69 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 3 | $66 |
| Merck | 4 | $65 |
| Vertex | 1 | $61 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 4 | $53 |
| Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc. | 2 | $53 |
| Dexcom, Inc. | 2 | $46 |
| Shield Therapeutics Inc | 2 | $37 |
| GSK | 2 | $37 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $35 |
| Currax Pharmaceuticals LLC | 2 | $29 |
| Dynavax Technologies Corporation | 1 | $27 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Stryker | 1 | $19 |
| Bayer | 1 | $19 |
| Insulet Corporation | 1 | $17 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 1 | $15 |
| Mannkind Corporation | 1 | $15 |
| AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 1 | $13 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 1 | $12 |
How this compares
$4,461 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 1,498 internal medicine providers in South Carolina.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| OzempicSemaglutide | 41 | $74,844 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 42 | $52,585 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 35 | $43,807 |
| EliquisApixaban | 30 | $34,464 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 18 | $23,444 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 18 | $18,674 |
| Toujeo SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 14 | $4,599 |
| JanumetSitagliptin Phos/Metformin Hcl | 12 | $3,302 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 402 | $3,195 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 132 | $2,186 |
| Omeprazole | 126 | $1,850 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 171 | $1,703 |
| Gabapentin | 92 | $1,611 |
| Levothyroxine Sodium | 145 | $1,600 |
| Esomeprazole Magnesium | 48 | $1,451 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $498 | $74,84441 claims |
| MerckJanuvia, Janumet | $65 | $55,88754 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $221 | $43,80735 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $464 | $34,46430 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $92 | $23,44418 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $355 | $18,67418 claims |
| AbbVieSynthroid | $369 | $1,05717 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 85th percentile of 1,498 internal medicine providers in South Carolina.
Other internal medicine in Columbia
- Carl MitchellColumbia$564K
- Ronald CassadaColumbia$100K
- Meer FakhryColumbia$22K
- Charles ButlerColumbia$19K
- Laura LabooneColumbia$16K
- Rica SantiagoMt Pleasant$10.7M
- Richard MillsMt Pleasant$5.5M
- Yvonne DavisMount Pleasant$2.4M
- David BolsterSummerville$2.3M
- Colby GrossmanSummerville$1.4M
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.