Vipul Desai, MD
Infectious Disease · The Woodlands, TXNPI 1891960969
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $67,645 of the $101,136 with a category attached, or 66.9%. 37 manufacturers reported payments, led by Melinta Therapeutics, LLC at 32.7% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $42,118 and has fallen 86.2% since, to $5,823 in 2025. Among infectious disease clinicians in TX with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 1,369 payments — averaging $73.88 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Melinta Therapeutics, LLC$33K
- Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$18K
- Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$13K
- Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.$5K
- AbbVie$5K
- Gilead$5K
- plus $21K from 31 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$67,64567%
- Travel & lodging$2,2402%
- Food & beverage$29,75629%
- Education$1,4961%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Melinta Therapeutics, LLC | 107 | $33,117 |
| Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 71 | $18,135 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 95 | $13,278 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 16 | $5,403 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 138 | $5,340 |
| Gilead | 239 | $4,563 |
| Cipla USA Inc. | 10 | $4,541 |
| Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 21 | $4,396 |
| Viiv Healthcare Company | 185 | $2,931 |
| Insmed, Inc. | 79 | $1,719 |
| Smith+Nephew | 109 | $1,500 |
| Merck | 112 | $1,489 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 43 | $1,433 |
| Shionogi Inc | 40 | $746 |
| La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company | 17 | $547 |
| GRT US Holding, Inc. | 11 | $416 |
| EMD Serono, Inc. | 11 | $234 |
| Aimmune Therapeutics, Inc. | 6 | $170 |
| Pfizer | 7 | $161 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 8 | $139 |
| Mayne Pharma Commercial LLC | 8 | $132 |
| Theratechnologies Inc. | 4 | $108 |
| Osiris Therapeutics Inc. | 5 | $86 |
| Organogenesis Inc. | 5 | $84 |
| Abbott | 1 | $67 |
| Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 4 | $58 |
| Tersera Therapeutics LLC | 2 | $54 |
| Dynavax Technologies Corporation | 3 | $49 |
| Octapharma USA, Inc. | 1 | $41 |
| Napo Pharmaceuticals Inc | 2 | $41 |
| Imbed Biosciences Inc. | 1 | $36 |
| KCI USA, Inc. | 2 | $31 |
| Seqirus USA Inc | 2 | $25 |
| Tactile Systems Technology Inc | 1 | $19 |
| Convatec Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| ETS Wound Care LLC | 1 | $15 |
| Nabriva Therapeutics, PLC | 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
$101,136 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 576 infectious disease 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 |
|---|---|---|
| ArikayceAmikacin Liposomal/Neb.Accessr | 12 | $180,310 |
| BiktarvyBictegrav/Emtricit/Tenofov Ala | 25 | $105,106 |
| DovatoDolutegravir Sodium/Lamivudine | 12 | $34,878 |
| ErtapenemErtapenem Sodium | 32 | $15,074 |
| Daptomycin | 45 | $12,521 |
| Meropenem | 34 | $3,783 |
| Cefepime Hcl | 15 | $2,148 |
| CeftriaxoneCeftriaxone Sodium | 15 | $1,393 |
| Azithromycin | 47 | $1,318 |
| Vancomycin Hcl | 14 | $1,106 |
| Ciprofloxacin Hcl | 98 | $1,029 |
| Cefdinir | 68 | $1,015 |
| Fluconazole | 59 | $980 |
| Moxifloxacin Hcl | 20 | $691 |
| Doxycycline Hyclate | 48 | $642 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Insmed, Inc.Arikayce | $1,719 | $180,31012 claims |
| GileadBiktarvy | $4,563 | $105,10625 claims |
| Viiv Healthcare CompanyDovato | $2,931 | $34,87812 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 576 infectious disease providers in Texas.
Other infectious disease in The Woodlands
- Leonardo PalauThe Woodlands$34K
- Elizabeth RaceDallas$1.5M
- Ogechika AlozieEl Paso$834K
- Joseph GatheHouston$695K
- Roy ChemalyHouston$686K
- Cedric SpakFort Worth$427K
- Ben BarnettHouston$424K
- Uriel SandkovskyDallas$320K
- Amar SafdarHouston$284K
- Roger BedimoDallas$269K
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.