Thomas Watson, MD
Nephrology · Birmingham, ALNPI 1790741833
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (56.5%), food and beverage and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. accounts for 65.9% of it on its own, with 17 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $3,363, 4.6 times the $738 reported in 2019.
Across 82 payments — averaging $65.11 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.$4K
- AstraZeneca$694
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$266
- Amgen$158
- Bayer$152
- Akebia Therapeutics Inc$112
- plus $437 from 12 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$3,01656%
- Food & beverage$2,28543%
- Education$391%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 11 | $3,520 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 22 | $694 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 10 | $266 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 8 | $158 |
| Bayer | 3 | $152 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 5 | $112 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 4 | $71 |
| GSK | 3 | $67 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 3 | $56 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 3 | $53 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $41 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 2 | $35 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $23 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $20 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Argon Medical Devices, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| 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.
How this compares
$5,339 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 164 nephrology providers in Alabama.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 73 | $61,249 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 55 | $45,879 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 42 | $1,243 |
| Losartan Potassium | 58 | $702 |
| Carvedilol | 36 | $427 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 15 | $370 |
| Allopurinol | 16 | $360 |
| Lisinopril | 41 | $301 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 20 | $278 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 29 | $239 |
| Furosemide | 30 | $208 |
| Metformin Hcl | 16 | $200 |
| Spironolactone | 37 | $156 |
| Lorazepam | 13 | $72 |
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 | $694 | $61,24973 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 70th percentile of 164 nephrology providers in Alabama.
Other nephrology in Birmingham
- Dana RizkBirmingham$196K
- Eric WallaceBirmingham$172K
- David WarnockBirmingham$128K
- Michal MrugBirmingham$73K
- Vineeta KumarBirmingham$59K
- Ashita TolwaniBirmingham$56K
- Song Ching OngBirmingham$36K
- Orlando GutierrezBirmingham$26K
- Ammar AlmehmiBirmingham$26K
- Jared CookBirmingham$25K
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.