Saketh Palasamudram Shekar, MD
Pulmonary Disease · Huntsville, ALNPI 1154795052
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $8,575 of the $10,828 with a category attached, or 79.2%. It is spread thinly across 30 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 18.2% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations.
Across 429 payments — averaging $25.24 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- GSK$2K
- AstraZeneca$2K
- Pulmonx Corporation$1K
- Insmed, Inc.$886
- Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc.$838
- Medtronic$802
- plus $3K from 24 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$2,04719%
- Food & beverage$8,57579%
- Education$2072%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| GSK | 129 | $1,973 |
| AstraZeneca | 86 | $1,825 |
| Pulmonx Corporation | 7 | $1,155 |
| Insmed, Inc. | 37 | $886 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 33 | $838 |
| Medtronic | 9 | $802 |
| Boston Scientific | 4 | $589 |
| Sanofi | 16 | $382 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 15 | $334 |
| Amgen | 14 | $313 |
| Mylan Specialty L.p. | 15 | $296 |
| Grifols USA, LLC | 12 | $269 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 3 | $153 |
| Novartis | 7 | $146 |
| Gilead | 7 | $123 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 6 | $122 |
| Harmony Biosciences LLC | 4 | $122 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 6 | $119 |
| United Therapeutics Corporation | 4 | $81 |
| Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 3 | $67 |
| Viatris Specialty LLC | 2 | $57 |
| La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company | 2 | $26 |
| Verona Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 1 | $20 |
| Electromed, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Circassia Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $18 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Resmed Corp | 1 | $18 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 1 | $16 |
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.
- ZEPHYR ENDOBRONCHIAL VALVE$913
- ILLUMISITE$626
- GENERAL - THERAPIES$407
- ACTHAR$125
- NUCALA$115
- ACQUIRE$114
- FASENRA$110
How this compares
$10,828 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 215 pulmonary disease providers in Alabama.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 309 | $224,826 |
| Breztri AerosphereBudesonide/Glycopyr/Formoterol | 188 | $122,374 |
| Spiriva RespimatTiotropium Bromide | 122 | $73,177 |
| Anoro ElliptaUmeclidinium Brm/Vilanterol Tr | 71 | $38,177 |
| SymbicortBudesonide/Formoterol Fumarate | 76 | $18,161 |
| Stiolto RespimatTiotropium Br/Olodaterol Hcl | 27 | $15,929 |
| Breo ElliptaFluticasone/Vilanterol | 37 | $14,868 |
| Fluticasone-SalmeterolFluticasone Propion/Salmeterol | 80 | $13,047 |
| Combivent RespimatIpratropium/Albuterol Sulfate | 14 | $13,046 |
| Budesonide-Formoterol FumarateBudesonide/Formoterol Fumarate | 42 | $8,150 |
| Advair HfaFluticasone Propion/Salmeterol | 20 | $7,211 |
| Albuterol Sulfate HfaAlbuterol Sulfate | 167 | $4,652 |
| Incruse ElliptaUmeclidinium Bromide | 11 | $3,778 |
| Roflumilast | 33 | $3,043 |
| Wixela InhubFluticasone Propion/Salmeterol | 20 | $1,659 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Anoro Ellipta, Breo Ellipta, Incruse Ellipta | $1,973 | $281,649428 claims |
| AstraZenecaBreztri Aerosphere, Symbicort | $1,825 | $140,535264 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimSpiriva Respimat, Stiolto Respimat, Combivent Respimat | $334 | $102,152163 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 75th percentile of 215 pulmonary disease providers in Alabama.
Other pulmonary disease in Huntsville
- Luther CorleyHuntsville$86K
- Roshen MathewHuntsville$19K
- Murthy VuppalaHuntsville$16K
- Richard SneeringerHuntsville$14K
- Misbahuddin SiddiquiHuntsville$12K
- Jason SmithHuntsville$8K
- William SaliskiMontgomery$257K
- Emily RehbergSylacauga$166K
- Tejaswini KulkarniBirmingham$134K
- Adrian DivittorioMobile$100K
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.