Suresh Kumar, MD
Nephrology · Knoxville, TNNPI 1104016617
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 88 payments — averaging $20.07 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Amgen$347
- Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.$144
- Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc.$142
- AstraZeneca$138
- Daiichi Sankyo Inc.$110
- Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc.$109
- plus $777 from 21 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,69696%
- Education$714%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Amgen(2 entities) | 18 | $347 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 9 | $144 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 2 | $142 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 8 | $138 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 6 | $110 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 5 | $109 |
| GSK | 5 | $102 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 2 | $83 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 4 | $61 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 3 | $54 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 6 | $52 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 2 | $48 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 2 | $48 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 1 | $37 |
| Sanofi | 1 | $37 |
| Bayer | 2 | $36 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 2 | $33 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Kyowa Kirin, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Neurelis, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Shield Therapeutics Inc | 1 | $17 |
| Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 1 | $16 |
| Medtronic | 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.
- LUPKYNIS$122
How this compares
$1,767 in reported general payments places this provider in the 50th percentile of 229 nephrology providers in Tennessee.
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 | 233 | $185,398 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 257 | $178,993 |
| AuryxiaFerric Citrate | 12 | $31,086 |
| LokelmaSodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate | 26 | $19,421 |
| VeltassaPatiromer Calcium Sorbitex | 13 | $12,228 |
| DapagliflozinDapagliflozin Propanediol | 21 | $10,297 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 78 | $6,320 |
| Bumetanide | 104 | $2,450 |
| Labetalol Hcl | 41 | $1,686 |
| Ramelteon | 11 | $1,148 |
| Potassium Chloride | 60 | $849 |
| Calcitriol | 53 | $590 |
| Chlorthalidone | 34 | $557 |
| Metolazone | 57 | $553 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 109 | $553 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Lokelma | $138 | $198,414283 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $16 | $185,398233 claims |
| Akebia Therapeutics IncAuryxia | $48 | $31,08612 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 50th percentile of 229 nephrology providers in Tennessee.
Other nephrology in Knoxville
- Kendra HendonKnoxville$1.1M
- Ross NesbitKnoxville$452K
- Gerald BorrelliKnoxville$190K
- Denise RiversKnoxville$154K
- Urath SureshKnoxville$109K
- Jimmy GentryKnoxville$38K
- Erik WendlandKnoxville$34K
- Ritu KhannaKnoxville$12K
- Claude GalphinChattanooga$2M
- Wael HusseinMemphis$912K
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.