Sarah Shearer, MD
Nephrology · Houston, TXNPI 1083630065
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 25 payments — averaging $22.92 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.$279
- AstraZeneca$181
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$35
- Ardelyx, Inc.$28
- Boehringer Ingelheim$26
- Akebia Therapeutics Inc$25
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$573100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 12 | $279 |
| AstraZeneca | 8 | $181 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 2 | $35 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 1 | $28 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 1 | $26 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 1 | $25 |
How this compares
$573 in reported general payments places this provider in the 25th 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 |
|---|---|---|
| VelphoroSucroferric Oxyhydroxide | 119 | $335,394 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 246 | $172,956 |
| Lanthanum Carbonate | 46 | $35,843 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 183 | $27,741 |
| VeltassaPatiromer Calcium Sorbitex | 37 | $27,494 |
| LokelmaSodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate | 32 | $16,709 |
| Cinacalcet Hcl | 21 | $7,360 |
| Tacrolimus | 20 | $4,973 |
| Bumetanide | 52 | $3,651 |
| Midodrine Hcl | 17 | $2,136 |
| Clonidine | 18 | $2,112 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 46 | $2,091 |
| Torsemide | 84 | $2,011 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 84 | $1,920 |
| Calcitriol | 60 | $1,413 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.Velphoro | $279 | $335,394119 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Lokelma | $181 | $189,665278 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 25th percentile of 1,070 nephrology providers in Texas.
Other nephrology in Houston
- Sreedhar MandayamHouston$7M
- Marializa BernardoHouston$4.2M
- Stephen FademHouston$2.4M
- Biruh WorkenehHouston$1.8M
- Rahul PandeyHouston$1.6M
- Christopher KwohHouston$928K
- George NassarHouston$772K
- June YaoHouston$651K
- Maher BisharaHouston$489K
- Wolfgang WinkelmayerHouston$462K
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.