Aaron Lee, MD
Retina Specialist · Saint Louis, MONPI 1063649713
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (45.5%), grants and speaking fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 12 manufacturers reported payments, led by Alcon Research LLC at 49.5% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $80,119 and has fallen 85.8% since, to $11,386 in 2025. Among retina specialist clinicians in MO 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 81 payments — averaging $2644.95 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Alcon Research LLC$106K
- Janssen Research & Development, LLC$44K
- Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH$29K
- Genentech, Inc.$10K
- Johnson & Johnson$8K
- Topcon Healthcare, Inc.$7K
- plus $11K from 6 others
Across 48 payments — averaging $11,893 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc.$364K
- Genentech, Inc.$124K
- Janssen Research & Development, LLC$80K
- F. Hoffmann-la Roche AG$3K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$97,45845%
- Speaking & faculty fees$33,00015%
- Grants$75,00035%
- Travel & lodging$6,6143%
- Food & beverage$2,1691%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alcon Research LLC | 9 | $105,954 |
| Janssen Research & Development, LLC | 7 | $44,280 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH | 7 | $28,673 |
| Genentech, Inc. | 17 | $9,722 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 14 | $7,650 |
| Topcon Healthcare, Inc. | 12 | $6,929 |
| F. Hoffmann-la Roche AG | 3 | $5,040 |
| Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $2,365 |
| Alcon | 7 | $1,640 |
| Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. | 2 | $1,270 |
| Regeneron | 1 | $695 |
| Novartis | 1 | $23 |
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.
- OCT TRITON$6,638
- OCT MAESTRO$6,638
- Syfovre$2,365
- EYLEA$695
- Lucentis$110
How this compares
$214,241 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 45 retina specialist providers in Missouri.
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.
Other retina specialist in Saint Louis
- Kisha PiggottSaint Louis$6K
- Mark GrandSaint Louis$3K
- Vichar TrivediSaint Louis$2K
- Niloofar PiriSaint Louis$1K
- Parth ShahSaint Louis$958
- Bliss O'BryhimSaint Louis$863
- Georgia WilkeSaint Louis$730
- Daniel JosephSaint Louis$395
- Rithwick RajagopalSaint Louis$244
- Cecilia LeeSaint Louis$204
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.