Stephen Fadem, MD
Nephrology · Houston, TXNPI 1144224163
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $4,099 of the $6,074 with a category attached, or 67.5%. 25 manufacturers reported payments, led by CSL Behring at 33.2% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $2,383 and has fallen 82.9% since, to $408 in 2025.
Across 110 payments — averaging $55.22 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- CSL Behring$2K
- Amgen$1K
- AstraZeneca$554
- Ardelyx, Inc.$400
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$234
- Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc.$232
- plus $1K from 19 others
Across 287 payments — averaging $8507.73 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.
- CSL Behring$2.3M
- Akebia Therapeutics Inc$83K
- AstraZeneca$37K
- Biogen$28K
- Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc.$28K
- Ardelyx, Inc.$3K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,95932%
- Food & beverage$4,09967%
- Education$160%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| CSL Behring | 6 | $2,016 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 36 | $1,182 |
| AstraZeneca | 11 | $554 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 4 | $400 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 8 | $234 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 3 | $232 |
| GSK | 5 | $209 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 5 | $200 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 2 | $153 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 3 | $140 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 4 | $98 |
| Renalytix AI, Inc. | 1 | $94 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 3 | $89 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 1 | $86 |
| Abbott | 1 | $83 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 5 | $80 |
| Novartis | 3 | $64 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 1 | $32 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $24 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Amicus Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $17 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 1 | $17 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $15 |
| Bayer | 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.
- KRYSTEXXA$251
- Parsabiv$250
- XPHOZAH 30 MG$144
- IBSRELA$127
- JYNARQUE$125
- BENLYSTA$125
- LUPKYNIS$101
- Critline - Monitors$100
How this compares
$6,074 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th 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 | 20 | $68,453 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 27 | $22,436 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 55 | $10,740 |
| Calcium Acetate | 17 | $1,673 |
| Midodrine Hcl | 29 | $1,392 |
| Valsartan | 62 | $1,054 |
| Potassium Chloride | 21 | $943 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 28 | $726 |
| Gabapentin | 30 | $302 |
| Furosemide | 88 | $290 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 40 | $290 |
| Carvedilol | 48 | $268 |
| Clonidine Hcl | 41 | $251 |
| Levothyroxine Sodium | 11 | $163 |
| Allopurinol | 11 | $118 |
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 | $140 | $68,45320 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $554 | $22,43627 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 1,070 nephrology providers in Texas.
Other nephrology in Houston
- Sreedhar MandayamHouston$752K
- Christopher KwohHouston$467K
- Wolfgang WinkelmayerHouston$462K
- Namrata GoelHouston$426K
- Dana MitchellHouston$344K
- Ramachandra MalyaHouston$312K
- John ForingerHouston$215K
- Biruh WorkenehHouston$185K
- Horacio AdrogueHouston$122K
- Anand SaranathanHouston$109K
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.