Rouzbeh Afsari, MD
Nephrology · Northridge, CANPI 1962633289
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.7% of the total across 345 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 29 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 20.8% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $1,908 and has fallen 51.5% since, to $926 in 2025.
Across 345 payments — averaging $19.17 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AstraZeneca$1K
- Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.$882
- Amgen$844
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$631
- Akebia Therapeutics Inc$549
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$362
- plus $2K from 23 others
Across 67 payments — averaging $2089.12 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.
- Akebia Therapeutics Inc$65K
- Merck$48K
- GSK$27K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$6,594100%
- Education$190%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 69 | $1,374 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 63 | $882 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 35 | $844 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 36 | $631 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 28 | $549 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 19 | $362 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 13 | $308 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 12 | $211 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 11 | $205 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 8 | $173 |
| Novartis | 9 | $169 |
| Bayer | 9 | $168 |
| GSK | 4 | $118 |
| Novo Nordisk | 4 | $83 |
| Medicure Pharma Inc. | 1 | $80 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 3 | $62 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 3 | $57 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 2 | $56 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 2 | $44 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $39 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 2 | $37 |
| Sanofi | 2 | $32 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 2 | $28 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Ascendis Pharma Endocrinology Inc | 1 | $19 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 1 | $17 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Shield Therapeutics Inc | 1 | $16 |
| Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
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
$6,614 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th 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 |
|---|---|---|
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 93 | $79,327 |
| VelphoroSucroferric Oxyhydroxide | 28 | $79,283 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 83 | $60,930 |
| LokelmaSodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate | 107 | $60,923 |
| TradjentaLinagliptin | 80 | $54,869 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 52 | $52,885 |
| LinzessLinaclotide | 44 | $49,378 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 61 | $44,793 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 29 | $43,309 |
| AuryxiaFerric Citrate | 15 | $31,818 |
| DapagliflozinDapagliflozin Propanediol | 28 | $26,174 |
| ProcritEpoetin Alfa | 23 | $22,803 |
| Sevelamer Hcl | 25 | $21,612 |
| Tacrolimus | 51 | $20,729 |
| EliquisApixaban | 32 | $20,197 |
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, Tradjenta | $173 | $134,196173 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Lokelma | $1,374 | $121,854190 claims |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.Velphoro | $882 | $79,28328 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic, Rybelsus | $83 | $72,93066 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCTrulicity | $28 | $43,30929 claims |
| Akebia Therapeutics IncAuryxia | $549 | $31,81815 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 80th percentile of 1,341 nephrology providers in California.
Other nephrology in Northridge
- Ramanath DukkipatiNorthridge$70K
- William YangNorthridge$66K
- 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
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.