Thomas Ferguson, MD
Nephrology · Lexington, KYNPI 1831292309
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $4,651 of the $6,162 with a category attached, or 75.5%. 26 manufacturers reported payments, led by Amgen at 32.4% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $2,273 and has fallen 68.2% since, to $723 in 2025.
Across 258 payments — averaging $23.88 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Amgen$2K
- Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.$2K
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$443
- AstraZeneca$320
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$257
- Travere Therapeutics, Inc.$189
- plus $1K from 20 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$1,40023%
- Food & beverage$4,65175%
- Education$1112%
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) | 33 | $1,995 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 87 | $1,594 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 34 | $443 |
| AstraZeneca | 17 | $320 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 12 | $257 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 8 | $189 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 8 | $185 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 10 | $159 |
| GSK | 8 | $126 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 6 | $120 |
| Gilead | 1 | $120 |
| Nxstage Medical, Inc. | 2 | $92 |
| Bayer | 5 | $91 |
| Novartis | 4 | $81 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 4 | $77 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 4 | $76 |
| Sanofi | 3 | $47 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 3 | $46 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 2 | $26 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 1 | $20 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Avion Pharmaceuticals | 1 | $12 |
| Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
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
$6,162 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 165 nephrology providers in Kentucky.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| KrystexxaPegloticase | 13 | $756,693 |
| FabrazymeAgalsidase Beta | 22 | $258,138 |
| VelphoroSucroferric Oxyhydroxide | 64 | $184,654 |
| XphozahTenapanor Hcl | 26 | $82,201 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 60 | $47,075 |
| Lanthanum Carbonate | 43 | $40,032 |
| RayaldeeCalcifediol | 26 | $31,191 |
| KerendiaFinerenone | 39 | $26,750 |
| LokelmaSodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate | 21 | $21,671 |
| VeltassaPatiromer Calcium Sorbitex | 20 | $19,570 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 14 | $13,067 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 107 | $8,315 |
| Calcium Acetate | 66 | $5,890 |
| Bumetanide | 137 | $4,224 |
| Clonidine | 18 | $3,638 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AmgenKrystexxa | $1,995 | $756,69313 claims |
| SanofiFabrazyme | $47 | $258,13822 claims |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.Velphoro | $1,594 | $184,65464 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Lokelma | $320 | $68,74781 claims |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLCRayaldee | $159 | $31,19126 claims |
| BayerKerendia | $91 | $26,75039 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 85th percentile of 165 nephrology providers in Kentucky.
Other nephrology in Lexington
- Javier Neyra LozanoLexington$181K
- Sadiq AhmedLexington$17K
- Madhumathi RaoLexington$11K
- Hartmut MallucheLexington$10K
- Amr MohamedLexington$9K
- Adam DossajiLexington$6K
- Juan Carlos AycinenaLexington$6K
- Khalil RahmanLexington$5K
- Faizan BabarLexington$5K
- Muhammad AtiqLexington$4K
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.