Roderick Comunale, MD
Nephrology · National City, CANPI 1568462109
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $1,800 of the $2,362 with a category attached, or 76.2%. Vifor Pharma, Inc. accounts for 83.4% of it on its own, with 6 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $1,800 and has fallen 89.6% since, to $188 in 2025.
Across 24 payments — averaging $98.42 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$2K
- Akebia Therapeutics Inc$149
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$71
- Amgen$70
- Ardelyx, Inc.$54
- Boston Scientific$34
- plus $16 from 1 others
Across 16 payments — averaging $2671.47 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- AstraZeneca$27K
- GSK$16K
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$1,80076%
- Food & beverage$56224%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 5 | $1,969 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 6 | $149 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 3 | $71 |
| Amgen | 5 | $70 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 3 | $54 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $34 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $16 |
How this compares
$2,362 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 1,341 nephrology providers in California.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| VeltassaPatiromer Calcium Sorbitex | 42 | $50,099 |
| RenvelaSevelamer Carbonate | 17 | $31,464 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 89 | $29,648 |
| ProsolParenteral Amino Acid 20% No.1 | 97 | $12,799 |
| TradjentaLinagliptin | 12 | $6,207 |
| Basaglar Kwikpen U-100Insulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 17 | $5,326 |
| Midodrine Hcl | 58 | $4,281 |
| Calcium Acetate | 51 | $3,096 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 32 | $1,513 |
| Ondansetron Hcl | 31 | $1,197 |
| Potassium Chloride | 37 | $726 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 67 | $693 |
| Bumetanide | 22 | $676 |
| Tacrolimus | 12 | $630 |
| Ventolin HfaAlbuterol Sulfate | 12 | $606 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other nephrology in National City
- Anjay RastogiLos Angeles$2.2M
- Glenn ChertowStanford$2M
- Luis AlvarezPalo Alto$1.8M
- Jose MorfinSacramento$1M
- Rodolfo BatarseRancho Mirage$910K
- Vandana MathurWoodside$769K
- Yasir QaziOrange$618K
- Rafael VillicanaLoma Linda$610K
- Sunil PatelApple Valley$509K
- Suphamai BunnapradistLos Angeles$498K
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.