Benjamin Close, MD
Pediatric Allergy/Immunology · Alexandria, LANPI 1730185802
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 1,468 payments — averaging $286.52 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AstraZeneca$207K
- Sanofi$63K
- Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc.$57K
- GSK$42K
- Amgen$17K
- Genentech USA, Inc.$14K
- plus $21K from 36 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$42,26410%
- Speaking & faculty fees$321,00776%
- Travel & lodging$26,1336%
- Food & beverage$30,8877%
- Education$3240%
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.
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
Too few pediatric allergy/immunology providers in Louisianato place this figure against a meaningful peer group, so we don't.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 478 | $350,333 |
| Dupixent SyringeDupilumab | 79 | $343,786 |
| Dupixent PenDupilumab | 84 | $334,189 |
| NucalaMepolizumab | 42 | $148,929 |
| HizentraImmun Glob G(Igg)/Pro/Iga 0-50 | 22 | $144,360 |
| Fasenra PenBenralizumab | 26 | $142,862 |
| TezspireTezepelumab-Ekko | 33 | $134,928 |
| PrivigenImmun Glob G(Igg)/Pro/Iga 0-50 | 26 | $125,644 |
| FasenraBenralizumab | 14 | $86,661 |
| Breo ElliptaFluticasone/Vilanterol | 122 | $57,483 |
| XolairOmalizumab | 19 | $43,173 |
| Breztri AerosphereBudesonide/Glycopyr/Formoterol | 44 | $31,168 |
| SymbicortBudesonide/Formoterol Fumarate | 71 | $21,141 |
| Fluticasone-SalmeterolFluticasone Propion/Salmeterol | 119 | $15,883 |
| Spiriva RespimatTiotropium Bromide | 23 | $11,546 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Nucala, Breo Ellipta, Arnuity Ellipta | $41,510 | $563,286675 claims |
| AstraZenecaTezspire, Fasenra, Breztri Aerosphere, Symbicort | $206,623 | $273,898162 claims |
| CSL BehringHizentra, Privigen | $12,729 | $270,00448 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimSpiriva Respimat | $118 | $11,54623 claims |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals USAEpinephrine | $265 | $7,75331 claims |
| MerckDulera | $30 | $3,38111 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. There are too few pediatric allergy/immunology providers in Louisianaon file to place this against a meaningful peer group, so we don't.
Other pediatric allergy/immunology in Alexandria
- Theron McCormickBaton Rouge$52K
- Ricardo SorensenNew Orleans$37K
- Sandhya ManiBaton Rouge$31K
- Sami BahnaShreveport$11K
- Augusto OchoaNew Orleans$9K
- Kathryn NeupertBaton Rouge$9K
- Andrew AbreoNew Orleans$7K
- Adil KhanShreveport$6K
- Jane Sayem El-DahrNew Orleans$1K
- Nina HeinNew Orleans$458
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.