Taurino Avelar, MD
Nephrology · Las Vegas, NVNPI 1114288867
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 98.4% of the total across 116 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 23 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 14.3% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations.
Across 116 payments — averaging $23.84 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AstraZeneca$396
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$348
- Amgen$317
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$293
- Travere Therapeutics, Inc.$220
- GSK$170
- plus $1K from 17 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$2,72198%
- Education$442%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 16 | $396 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 13 | $348 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 10 | $317 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 25 | $293 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 7 | $220 |
| GSK | 4 | $170 |
| Bayer | 6 | $164 |
| Nxstage Medical, Inc. | 2 | $116 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 5 | $108 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 5 | $106 |
| Novo Nordisk | 5 | $104 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 3 | $85 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 4 | $83 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 2 | $62 |
| Cycle Pharmaceuticals Inc | 1 | $30 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 1 | $26 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Novartis | 1 | $18 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 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.
How this compares
$2,765 in reported general payments places this provider in the 60th percentile of 125 nephrology providers in Nevada.
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 | 41 | $42,651 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 29 | $34,207 |
| LokelmaSodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate | 12 | $15,823 |
| VeltassaPatiromer Calcium Sorbitex | 11 | $13,111 |
| ProsolParenteral Amino Acid 20% No.1 | 45 | $4,311 |
| Midodrine Hcl | 11 | $2,328 |
| Bumetanide | 11 | $658 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 19 | $587 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 20 | $356 |
| Furosemide | 54 | $306 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 12 | $181 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 36 | $163 |
| Losartan Potassium | 23 | $130 |
| Tamsulosin Hcl | 12 | $120 |
| Lisinopril | 20 | $116 |
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 | $396 | $50,03041 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $108 | $42,65141 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 60th percentile of 125 nephrology providers in Nevada.
Other nephrology in Las Vegas
- Samuel KantorLas Vegas$319K
- Richard CottieroLas Vegas$220K
- Mark VishnepolskyLas Vegas$68K
- Baishali NairLas Vegas$12K
- Gene OngLas Vegas$11K
- Jeffrey RyuLas Vegas$9K
- Luana PillonLas Vegas$9K
- Lawrence LehrnerLas Vegas$8K
- Hassan OsmanLas Vegas$8K
- Marwan TakieddineLas Vegas$8K
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.