Sujitha Velagapudi
Internal Medicine · Chicago, ILNPI 1578180303
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 92.3% of the total across 145 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 22 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 17.1% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Among internal medicine clinicians in IL with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 145 payments — averaging $31.62 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Novartis$785
- Abiomed$637
- Abbott$513
- Boston Scientific$441
- Pfizer$375
- Stryker$303
- plus $2K from 16 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$4,23192%
- Education$3548%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novartis | 34 | $785 |
| Abiomed | 6 | $637 |
| Abbott | 10 | $513 |
| Boston Scientific | 11 | $441 |
| Pfizer | 16 | $375 |
| Stryker | 4 | $303 |
| Medtronic | 7 | $253 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 4 | $195 |
| AstraZeneca | 10 | $177 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 6 | $157 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 11 | $150 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 5 | $121 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 5 | $99 |
| Merck | 4 | $79 |
| Bayer | 2 | $55 |
| BD | 1 | $48 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 3 | $46 |
| Amgen | 2 | $46 |
| Cardiva Medical, Inc. | 1 | $34 |
| Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc. | 1 | $27 |
| Surmodics, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Bridgebio Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
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.
- Impella$445
- ENSITE$269
- FlowTriever$157
- WATCHMAN Access System$129
- SYMPLICITY G3$125
- STINGRAY$100
How this compares
$4,585 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 5,182 internal medicine providers in Illinois.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Losartan Potassium | 25 | $304 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 14 | $183 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 28 | $108 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 13 | $94 |
| Spironolactone | 11 | $27 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other internal medicine in Chicago
- Merle DiamondChicago$1.1M
- Robert KushnerChicago$516K
- Romeo UrsuaChicago$420K
- Peter O DonnellChicago$318K
- George UrbanChicago$258K
- Kristen PallokChicago$256K
- George NissanChicago$252K
- Luke LaffinChicago$162K
- Daniel CatenacciChicago$161K
- Hiren ShahChicago$144K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.