Venugopala Bheemanathini, MD
Nephrology · Anniston, ALNPI 1053415695
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.2% of the total across 219 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 25 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 14.1% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations.
Across 219 payments — averaging $24.98 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AstraZeneca$771
- Amgen$723
- Bayer$452
- Akebia Therapeutics Inc$427
- Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.$386
- Vifor Pharma, Inc.$375
- plus $2K from 19 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$5,42899%
- Education$421%
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) | 25 | $771 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 26 | $723 |
| Bayer | 20 | $452 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 18 | $427 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 22 | $386 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 17 | $375 |
| Novartis | 11 | $356 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 7 | $320 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 14 | $269 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 9 | $207 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 10 | $200 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 8 | $185 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 3 | $157 |
| Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $125 |
| GSK | 6 | $105 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 4 | $100 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $98 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 8 | $44 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 2 | $43 |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA | 2 | $32 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $19 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 1 | $17 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $16 |
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
$5,470 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th 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 |
|---|---|---|
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 162 | $119,825 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 135 | $94,491 |
| VelphoroSucroferric Oxyhydroxide | 16 | $57,170 |
| AuryxiaFerric Citrate | 20 | $45,114 |
| KerendiaFinerenone | 28 | $23,533 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 36 | $6,344 |
| Colchicine | 24 | $2,827 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 135 | $2,780 |
| Telmisartan | 20 | $1,984 |
| Clonidine | 12 | $1,881 |
| Losartan Potassium | 168 | $1,823 |
| Calcium Acetate | 11 | $1,524 |
| Nifedipine ErNifedipine | 12 | $1,050 |
| Furosemide | 121 | $969 |
| Minoxidil | 15 | $916 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $157 | $119,825162 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $771 | $94,491135 claims |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.Velphoro | $386 | $57,17016 claims |
| Akebia Therapeutics IncAuryxia | $427 | $45,11420 claims |
| BayerKerendia | $452 | $23,53328 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 75th percentile of 164 nephrology providers in Alabama.
Other nephrology in Anniston
- Prathyusha MaddelaAnniston$6K
- Naveen BadeAnniston$5K
- Michael QuadriniHuntsville$323K
- Dana RizkBirmingham$196K
- Sumeet MunjalMontgomery$191K
- Eric WallaceBirmingham$172K
- Phillip MadoniaAlabaster$165K
- Thomas OzbirnHomewood$133K
- David WarnockBirmingham$128K
- Jeffrey GlazeHomewood$98K
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.