Payment overview · 2025
General Payments
$159.26
3 reported records · 3 companies
Healthcare provider profile · identity verified
Jonathan Smith, MD
Allopathic & Osteopathic Physicians|Internal Medicine|Nephrology · HOUSTON, TX · NPI 1841546447
Verified facts
What the public records show
CMS Open Payments records show Jonathan Smith, MD received $159.26 in general payments during 2025 across 3 reported records.
Travere Therapeutics, Inc. accounted for 78.5% of that reported general-payment amount.
The Open Payments records used for this analysis explicitly named 3 associated products.
A separate comparison found the same explicitly named product in public Medicare Part D data: Velphoro.
Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. reported payments to this doctor in 2025. Across the 2025 Open Payments General Payment records loaded for this analysis, that same reporting entity reported VELPHORO as an associated drug or biological on 8763 records involving 2642 distinct recipient NPIs. Public Medicare Part D data also shows 44 claims for Velphoro by this doctor in 2024.
These records do not establish that a payment influenced prescribing or medical care.
Separate record types
Research & Ownership
Research Payments (direct recipient): not present in the loaded data
Associated Research Funding (for example, named PI): not present in the loaded data
Ownership / Investment: not present in the loaded data
These categories are never added into the General Payments headline. Associated research funding must not be described as money the doctor personally received unless the source record supports that conclusion.
Who paid this doctor?
Companies in 2025 General Payments
| Reported company | Canonical company | Amount | Share | Records | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | Unresolved — no canonical attribution shown | $124.99 | 78.5% | 1 | 2025 |
| Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Unresolved — no canonical attribution shown | $19.31 | 12.1% | 1 | 2025 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | Unresolved — no canonical attribution shown | $14.96 | 9.4% | 1 | 2025 |
What were the payments for?
Payment categories
| Category | Amount | Records |
|---|---|---|
| Food and Beverage | $159.26 | 3 |
A meal, consulting fee, royalty, and travel payment describe different kinds of reported relationships and should not be interpreted as equivalent.
Analysis 1 · Payment-linked products
Products named in Open Payments records
| Reported product | Type | Reported company | Related amount* | Records | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filspari Normalized: filspari |
Drug | Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | $124.99 | 1 | 2025 |
Source payment records
|
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| Empaveli Normalized: empaveli |
Drug | Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | $19.31 | 1 | 2025 |
Source payment records
|
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| VELPHORO Normalized: velphoro |
Drug | Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | $14.96 | 1 | 2025 |
Source payment records
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* Product-associated amounts are non-additive because one payment record may name more than one product.
These products were named on specific Open Payments records. A named product does not show that the payment influenced treatment or prescribing.
Public prescribing for products named in payments
| Open Payments product | Payment year | Part D brand | Part D year | Claims | Match method | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VELPHORO velphoro |
2025 | Velphoro | 2024 | 44 | exact normalized | Medicare Part D |
The presence of the same drug in both datasets does not show that a payment caused or influenced a prescription.
Analysis 2 · Same-company prescribing overlap
Drugs reported in other payments from the same company that also appear in Medicare Part D
This analysis is independent from products named on this doctor’s individual payment records. A row appears only when the exact Open Payments reporting entity paid this doctor, that same reporting entity reported the drug or biological on at least 10 loaded General Payment records involving at least 2 distinct recipient NPIs, and this doctor has the same non-generic brand in public Part D data. This does not mean the company owns or manufactures the drug.
| Paying company | Payment year | Drug reported by same entity | Open Payments evidence | Part D | Claims | Beneficiaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. Exact reporting entity; no affiliate inference |
2025 | VELPHORO open payments reported associated product |
CMS Open Payments — General Payments 8763 supporting records · 2642 recipient NPIs · example record 1244803773 |
Velphoro · 2024 Exact normalized brand match · 1 Part D row |
44 | 11 |
These facts do not show that a payment was for the drug, that the company owns or manufactures the drug, or that a payment caused or influenced prescribing.
Public Medicare Part D data
Provider-and-drug rows loaded for 2024
| Brand | Generic | Claims | Beneficiaries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calcitriol | Calcitriol | 94 | 30 |
| Furosemide | Furosemide | 84 | 30 |
| Lisinopril | Lisinopril | 78 | 22 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | Amlodipine Besylate | 63 | 21 |
| Nifedipine Er | Nifedipine | 61 | 20 |
| Losartan Potassium | Losartan Potassium | 49 | 20 |
| Veltassa | Patiromer Calcium Sorbitex | 49 | 13 |
| Velphoro | Sucroferric Oxyhydroxide | 44 | 11 |
| Carvedilol | Carvedilol | 43 | 17 |
| Farxiga | Dapagliflozin Propanediol | 43 | 15 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | Hydralazine Hcl | 41 | 18 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | Sevelamer Carbonate | 35 | 11 |
| Kerendia | Finerenone | 30 | suppressed |
| Clonidine | Clonidine | 25 | suppressed |
| Potassium Chloride | Potassium Chloride | 23 | suppressed |
| Tamsulosin Hcl | Tamsulosin Hcl | 23 | suppressed |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | Atorvastatin Calcium | 21 | suppressed |
| Allopurinol | Allopurinol | 19 | suppressed |
| Metoprolol Succinate | Metoprolol Succinate | 18 | suppressed |
| Olmesartan Medoxomil | Olmesartan Medoxomil | 18 | suppressed |
| Spironolactone | Spironolactone | 17 | suppressed |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | Metoprolol Tartrate | 16 | suppressed |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | Rosuvastatin Calcium | 16 | suppressed |
| Jardiance | Empagliflozin | 15 | suppressed |
| Cinacalcet Hcl | Cinacalcet Hcl | 14 | suppressed |
| Lokelma | Sodium Zirconium Cyclosilicate | 14 | suppressed |
| Pravastatin Sodium | Pravastatin Sodium | 14 | suppressed |
| Procrit | Epoetin Alfa | 13 | suppressed |
Timeline
Payment and prescribing data by year
Open Payments and Medicare Part D may refer to different years. They are shown separately rather than aligned as if they describe the same period.
| Year | General Payments | Main payer | Explicit products | Company overlaps | Part D coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $159.26 · 3 records | Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | Empaveli, Filspari, VELPHORO | 1 | — |
| 2024 | — | — | — | — | Complete |
Questions to ask
Questions you could discuss with your doctor
- What role, if any, does Velphoro play in your treatment recommendations for me?
- How do you evaluate evidence when you have a financial relationship with Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.?
- Are there reasonable alternatives I should understand when we discuss treatment options?
- How should I interpret the industry-payment records shown here in the context of my care?
These are general questions generated from reviewed templates. They are not personalized medical advice.
Sources and limitations
How to read this page
- Payment and Medicare prescribing data can cover different years; every comparison shows both years explicitly.
- Part D does not represent a doctor’s entire practice; it excludes many patients and is subject to CMS public-release thresholds.
- Company–drug relationships must have an auditable source, a precise relationship type, and a valid evidence period. Unresolved mappings are not published.
- Generic drug claims are not attributed to a specific manufacturer without manufacturer-level evidence.
- When a source extract is incomplete, missing rows are never treated as proof of no payments or no prescriptions.
Loaded source releases
| Dataset | Year | Publication | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMS Open Payments — General Payments | 2025 | 2026-06-30 | Original source |
| Medicare Part D Prescribers by Provider and Drug | 2024 | 2026-05-06 | Original source |
| NPPES Data Dissemination V2 | current / reference data | 2026-08-10 | Original source |
Full methodology · Questions & answers · Report a possible error