Tina Kochar, MD
Nephrology · Galveston, TXNPI 1902000573
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 591 payments — averaging $649.22 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc.$328K
- Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc.$29K
- Amgen$20K
- Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc.$2K
- Novartis$2K
- Bayer$543
- plus $3K from 16 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$32,06912%
- Speaking & faculty fees$188,81069%
- Travel & lodging$37,13814%
- Food & beverage$14,4395%
- Education$260%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 368 | $327,992 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 25 | $28,937 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 49 | $19,712 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 39 | $1,619 |
| Novartis | 29 | $1,552 |
| Bayer | 13 | $543 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 11 | $534 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 8 | $498 |
| GSK | 10 | $421 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 9 | $375 |
| Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 5 | $300 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 8 | $208 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 4 | $200 |
| Genentech, Inc. | 1 | $137 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 1 | $122 |
| Pharmacosmos Therapeutics Inc. | 1 | $122 |
| Idorsia Pharmaceuticals US Inc | 1 | $120 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 3 | $113 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 1 | $67 |
| Novo Nordisk | 2 | $49 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 2 | $44 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 1 | $22 |
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
$383,687 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 1,070 nephrology providers in Texas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| LupkynisVoclosporin | 14 | $81,139 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 23 | $17,533 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 26 | $14,257 |
| ProsolParenteral Amino Acid 20% No.1 | 41 | $5,229 |
| Calcium Acetate | 18 | $1,415 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 22 | $1,041 |
| Furosemide | 101 | $1,026 |
| Midodrine Hcl | 15 | $666 |
| Carvedilol | 59 | $621 |
| Calcitriol | 38 | $504 |
| Losartan Potassium | 40 | $484 |
| Allopurinol | 27 | $264 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 44 | $260 |
| Prednisone | 17 | $195 |
| Gabapentin | 25 | $163 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc.Lupkynis | $327,992 | $81,13914 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $534 | $17,53323 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 95th percentile of 1,070 nephrology providers in Texas.
Other nephrology in Galveston
- Shikha WadhwaniGalveston$305K
- Pablo PergolaSan Antonio$14.2M
- German HernandezEl Paso$9.7M
- Sreedhar MandayamHouston$7M
- Tahira AlvesSan Antonio$6.1M
- Carl DukesSan Antonio$5.9M
- Chinonye Ogbonnaya-OdorSan Antonio$4.6M
- Marializa BernardoHouston$4.2M
- Judith BettsAustin$3.7M
- Wesley CalhounSan Antonio$3.5M
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.