Al Benson, MD
Medical Oncology · Chicago, ILNPI 1891761532
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $128,719 of the $163,399 with a category attached, or 78.8%. It is spread thinly across 33 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 12.9%. Among medical oncology clinicians in IL with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 146 payments — averaging $1119.17 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Merck$21K
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$15K
- Pfizer$13K
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.$13K
- Incyte Corporation$10K
- Array Biopharma Inc$9K
- plus $83K from 27 others
Across 123 payments — averaging $11,439 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.
- Merck$567K
- Bristol Myers Squibb$532K
- AbbVie$91K
- Amgen$86K
- GSK$45K
- Daiichi Sankyo Inc.$42K
- plus $43K from 4 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$128,71979%
- Speaking & faculty fees$23,32614%
- Travel & lodging$8,6815%
- Food & beverage$2,6732%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Merck | 17 | $21,002 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 26 | $14,782 |
| Pfizer | 4 | $13,304 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 7 | $12,676 |
| Incyte Corporation | 11 | $9,747 |
| Array Biopharma Inc | 4 | $9,254 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 7 | $8,200 |
| Taiho Oncology, Inc. | 8 | $7,664 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim International GmbH | 2 | $6,500 |
| Amgen | 11 | $6,316 |
| GSK | 6 | $6,094 |
| Eisai Inc. | 3 | $5,533 |
| AVEO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $5,000 |
| Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 5 | $4,991 |
| AbbVie | 2 | $4,404 |
| Sanofi | 2 | $3,855 |
| Corcept Therapeutics | 3 | $3,119 |
| Delcath Systems | 1 | $3,000 |
| Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $2,450 |
| Astrazeneca UK Limited | 1 | $2,226 |
| Gilead(2 entities) | 2 | $2,209 |
| Boston Scientific | 2 | $2,118 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $1,875 |
| Bayer | 1 | $1,750 |
| Mirati Therapeutics, Inc. | 3 | $1,400 |
| Seagen Inc. | 1 | $1,380 |
| Samsung Bioepis Co., Ltd. | 2 | $1,000 |
| Shionogi Inc | 3 | $816 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 3 | $419 |
| AstraZeneca | 3 | $134 |
| Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $130 |
| BTG International Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc | 1 | $22 |
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
$163,399 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 144 medical oncology providers in Illinois.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| LonsurfTrifluridine/Tipiracil Hcl | 24 | $102,845 |
| CreonLipase/Protease/Amylase | 14 | $68,741 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Taiho Oncology, Inc.Lonsurf | $7,664 | $102,84524 claims |
| AbbVieCreon | $4,404 | $68,74114 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 144 medical oncology providers in Illinois.
Other medical oncology in Chicago
- Ruta RaoChicago$328K
- Sunandana ChandraChicago$292K
- William GradisharChicago$289K
- Devalingam MahalingamChicago$252K
- Mary FidlerChicago$241K
- James WallaceChicago$229K
- Andrzej JakubowiakChicago$215K
- Jyoti PatelChicago$175K
- Nisha MohindraChicago$67K
- Philip BonomiChicago$66K
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.