Benjamin Scharfstein, MD
Surgery · Bristol, TNNPI 1497850515
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by education: $19,091 of the $29,749 with a category attached, or 64.2%. Intuitive Surgical accounts for 95.4% of it on its own, with 32 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $17,230 and has fallen 88.4% since, to $1,998 in 2025. Among surgery clinicians in TN 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 155 payments — averaging $191.93 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$28K
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$204
- Conmed Corporation$174
- Medtronic$144
- Lemaitre Vascular, Inc.$88
- Portola Pharmaceuticals, LLC$78
- plus $669 from 27 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$5,65319%
- Food & beverage$4,99117%
- Education$19,09164%
- Gifts$140%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Intuitive Surgical | 96 | $28,392 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 4 | $204 |
| Conmed Corporation | 3 | $174 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 8 | $144 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 4 | $88 |
| Portola Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 4 | $78 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 5 | $72 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 2 | $50 |
| Leica Microsystems Inc. | 2 | $43 |
| Merz North America, Inc. | 1 | $42 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $33 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 1 | $33 |
| Elucent Medical | 1 | $31 |
| Endologix LLC | 1 | $31 |
| Teleflex LLC | 2 | $31 |
| Cardiovascular Systems Inc. | 2 | $24 |
| Ambu Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Sanara Medtech Inc. | 2 | $20 |
| Merit Medical Systems Inc | 1 | $19 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Hologic Sales And Service, LLC | 1 | $19 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $18 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $17 |
| Elutia, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Solventum Corporation | 1 | $15 |
| Stryker | 1 | $14 |
| Microline Surgical Inc | 1 | $14 |
| Urgo Medical North America, LLC | 1 | $14 |
| Clinical Technology, Inc | 1 | $13 |
| CSL Behring | 1 | $12 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 1 | $12 |
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.
- DAVINCI XI$15,000
- Da Vinci Surgical System$10,000
- GORE SYNECOR Biomaterial$136
How this compares
$29,749 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 516 surgery providers in Tennessee.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sod Sulf-Potass Sulf-Mag SulfSodium, Potassium,mag Sulfates | 22 | $1,315 |
| ErythromycinErythromycin Base | 11 | $368 |
| Ondansetron OdtOndansetron | 17 | $108 |
| Neomycin Sulfate | 12 | $62 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 12 | $40 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 12 | $19 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgery in Bristol
- Paige FurrowBristol$39K
- John VanceBristol$20K
- Jessica McCrackenBristol$17K
- Heath BroussardJackson$688K
- Eric WallaceCookeville$529K
- John RobertsonJohnson City$432K
- Jaime Ponce-PortugalChattanooga$412K
- Evelio RodriguezNashville$362K
- Mathew NinanNashville$298K
- Joseph BroucekNashville$262K
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.