Benjamin Blossom, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Tupelo, MSNPI 1477648087
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.2% of the total across 189 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 35 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 15.3% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations.
Across 189 payments — averaging $34.83 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$1K
- Abiomed$959
- Abbott$481
- Merck$387
- Penumbra, Inc.$376
- Cook Medical LLC$322
- plus $3K from 29 others
Across 33 payments — averaging $2567.56 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.
- Boston Scientific$58K
- EKOS Corporation$21K
- Bayer$6K
- Abbott$53
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$541%
- Food & beverage$6,53099%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic | 35 | $1,006 |
| Abiomed | 17 | $959 |
| Abbott | 6 | $481 |
| Merck | 21 | $387 |
| Penumbra, Inc. | 5 | $376 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 5 | $322 |
| Boston Scientific | 6 | $292 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 13 | $232 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 2 | $224 |
| AstraZeneca | 7 | $224 |
| Thrombolex, Inc. | 2 | $188 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 5 | $187 |
| Pfizer | 7 | $128 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 1 | $126 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 2 | $100 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 4 | $100 |
| EKOS Corporation | 1 | $98 |
| Novartis | 7 | $97 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 2 | $94 |
| Amgen | 6 | $90 |
| Novo Nordisk | 2 | $80 |
| Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC | 1 | $80 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 2 | $77 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 5 | $72 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 4 | $69 |
| Philips North America LLC | 2 | $69 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 1 | $65 |
| Cardiva Medical, Inc. | 3 | $61 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $57 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 3 | $56 |
| Daxor Corporation | 1 | $50 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 3 | $46 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 2 | $39 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 2 | $36 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 3 | $16 |
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.
- Impella$391
- ONYX FRONTIER$333
- Indigo System$263
- Bashir Endovascular Catheter$172
- AlphaVac$170
- FLOWTRIEVER CATHETER, S$136
- CT THROMBECTOMY SYSTEM KIT$136
- Tandem Lung Kit$126
- XIENCE SIERRA$115
- COREVALVE EVOLUT R$112
- GENERAL VASCULAR INTERVENTION$106
- FARXIGA$103
- Zilver PTX$101
- NAVITOR$100
How this compares
$6,584 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 144 cardiovascular disease providers in Mississippi.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 258 | $240,903 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 100 | $78,344 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 78 | $71,643 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 39 | $27,656 |
| Praluent PenAlirocumab | 26 | $18,751 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 13 | $16,877 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 17 | $13,746 |
| Ranolazine ErRanolazine | 98 | $12,506 |
| Ezetimibe | 211 | $5,189 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 509 | $4,766 |
| Prasugrel Hcl | 66 | $3,427 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 237 | $3,172 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 257 | $2,547 |
| Nebivolol Hcl | 69 | $2,473 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 320 | $2,063 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PfizerEliquis | $128 | $240,903258 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $97 | $71,64378 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $224 | $27,65639 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $46 | $16,87713 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $65 | $13,74617 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 65th percentile of 144 cardiovascular disease providers in Mississippi.
Other cardiovascular disease in Tupelo
- Barry BertoletTupelo$469K
- Michael BolerTupelo$6K
- Dharmesh PatelSouthaven$1.5M
- Donny StokesJackson$207K
- Mahmoud ZayedPascagoula$103K
- James BenslerJackson$64K
- Michael HallJackson$54K
- Hugo QuintanaPascagoula$48K
- Ediz TasanPascagoula$42K
- Lawrence LeaderHattiesburg$40K
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.