Viresh Patel, MD
Internal Medicine · Houston, TXNPI 1932425196
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 460 payments — averaging $21.17 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Novo Nordisk$2K
- AstraZeneca$2K
- AbbVie$736
- Lilly USA, LLC$668
- Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC$640
- GSK$597
- plus $3K from 30 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$9,716100%
- Education$240%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novo Nordisk | 119 | $2,077 |
| AstraZeneca | 76 | $2,061 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 32 | $736 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 36 | $668 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 32 | $640 |
| GSK | 29 | $597 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 24 | $454 |
| Qiagen, LLC | 6 | $360 |
| Pfizer | 15 | $344 |
| Bayer | 21 | $331 |
| Abbott | 3 | $141 |
| Merck | 10 | $140 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 7 | $136 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 1 | $121 |
| Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. | 5 | $112 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 5 | $92 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 5 | $89 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 3 | $65 |
| Optinose US, Inc. | 3 | $55 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $50 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 3 | $49 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 2 | $49 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 2 | $45 |
| Verona Pharma, Inc. | 2 | $39 |
| Exact Sciences | 2 | $39 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $38 |
| Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $31 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $29 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 1 | $25 |
| Novartis | 1 | $24 |
| Azurity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Vertical Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $18 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Cranial Technologies, Inc | 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
$9,740 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 7,675 internal medicine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| OzempicSemaglutide | 88 | $153,084 |
| EliquisApixaban | 89 | $100,215 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 102 | $84,105 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 62 | $69,810 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 37 | $52,503 |
| Breztri AerosphereBudesonide/Glycopyr/Formoterol | 71 | $48,327 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 37 | $47,622 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 29 | $47,245 |
| Synjardy XrEmpagliflozin/Metformin Hcl | 24 | $37,271 |
| Soliqua 100-33Insulin Glargine/Lixisenatide | 40 | $35,004 |
| Toujeo Max SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 25 | $26,324 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 15 | $18,595 |
| Breo ElliptaFluticasone/Vilanterol | 30 | $12,429 |
| TrintellixVortioxetine Hydrobromide | 11 | $11,788 |
| Tresiba Flextouch U-100Insulin Degludec | 18 | $9,007 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $2,077 | $153,08488 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Breztri Aerosphere | $2,061 | $118,138133 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Breo Ellipta, Shingrix | $597 | $102,679160 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $344 | $100,21589 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance, Synjardy Xr | $454 | $84,51653 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCMounjaro | $668 | $52,50337 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $38 | $47,62237 claims |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLCSoliqua 100-33 | $640 | $35,00440 claims |
| MerckJanuvia | $140 | $18,59515 claims |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.Trintellix | $65 | $11,78811 claims |
| AbbVieSynthroid | $736 | $1,85525 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 90th percentile of 7,675 internal medicine providers in Texas.
Other internal medicine in Houston
- Jan BurgerHouston$47.3M
- Nitin JainHouston$33.2M
- Aung NaingHouston$30.6M
- Preetesh JainHouston$19.5M
- Paolo StratiHouston$19.2M
- Nicholas ShortHouston$17.6M
- Isabella GlitzaHouston$14.8M
- Murtaza MussajiHouston$13.1M
- Hussein TawbiHouston$12.6M
- Hans LeeHouston$11.7M
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.