Benjamin Lee, MD
Ophthalmology · New Orleans, LANPI 1104323864
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $4,865 of the $6,832 with a category attached, or 71.2%. 15 manufacturers reported payments, led by Alcon at 42.0% of the total.
Across 88 payments — averaging $77.64 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Alcon$3K
- AbbVie$2K
- Sight Sciences, Inc.$462
- Rxsight Inc$273
- Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision, Inc.$265
- Bausch & Lomb Americas Inc.$247
- plus $597 from 9 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,86827%
- Food & beverage$4,86571%
- Education$1001%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alcon | 18 | $2,869 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 36 | $2,120 |
| Sight Sciences, Inc. | 8 | $462 |
| Rxsight Inc | 2 | $273 |
| Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision, Inc. | 3 | $265 |
| Bausch & Lomb Americas Inc. | 5 | $247 |
| Bausch & Lomb, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 4 | $166 |
| Spark Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $115 |
| Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $89 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 2 | $71 |
| Glaukos Corporation | 1 | $43 |
| Merz North America, Inc. | 1 | $34 |
| Stryker | 2 | $33 |
| Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $29 |
| Vertex | 1 | $18 |
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.
- XEN GLAUCOMA TREATMENT SYSTEM$1,107
- OMNI(R) SURGICAL SYSTEM (US)$374
- SION SURGICAL INSTRUMENT$374
- Hydrus Microstent$310
- RXSIGHT CONTACT LENS$273
- RXSIGHT INJECTOR CARTRIDGE$273
- RXSIGHT INJECTOR HANDPIECE$273
- RXSIGHT LIGHT DELIVERY DEVICE (LDD)$273
- LIGHT ADJUSTABLE LENS (LAL)$273
- DURYSTA$258
- Clareon$135
- Clareon PanOptix Pro$129
- Tecnis Simplicity$121
- LUXTURNA$115
- Baerveldt Glaucoma Implant (250)$109
- ENVISTA ENVY IOL$107
How this compares
$6,832 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 286 ophthalmology providers in Louisiana.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| RhopressaNetarsudil Mesylate | 71 | $39,138 |
| Prednisolone Acetate | 717 | $33,017 |
| MoxifloxacinMoxifloxacin Hcl | 551 | $12,531 |
| LumiganBimatoprost | 20 | $8,865 |
| Alphagan PBrimonidine Tartrate | 15 | $5,874 |
| Dorzolamide-TimololDorzolamide Hcl/Timolol Maleat | 258 | $5,454 |
| Latanoprost | 576 | $5,400 |
| Brimonidine Tartrate | 423 | $4,578 |
| Travoprost | 20 | $3,195 |
| Difluprednate | 24 | $2,159 |
| Dorzolamide-TimololDorzolamide/Timolol/Pf | 12 | $1,933 |
| Dorzolamide Hcl | 50 | $1,177 |
| Ofloxacin | 79 | $1,118 |
| Ketorolac Tromethamine | 74 | $1,012 |
| Timolol Maleate | 46 | $522 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc.Rhopressa | $29 | $39,13871 claims |
| AbbVieLumigan, Alphagan P | $2,120 | $14,73935 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 85th percentile of 286 ophthalmology providers in Louisiana.
Other ophthalmology in New Orleans
- Rebecca MetzingerNew Orleans$63K
- Ze ZhangNew Orleans$44K
- Peter KastlNew Orleans$32K
- Glen CangelosiNew Orleans$6K
- Matthew BoltonNew Orleans$5K
- Barry LeaderNew Orleans$5K
- Blake WilliamsonBaton Rouge$443K
- Wyche ColemanShreveport$35K
- Bryan VekoviusShreveport$29K
- Christopher ShelbyShreveport$27K
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.