Benjamin Thomas, MD
Neurology · Hickory, NCNPI 1831391945
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 295 payments — averaging $385.04 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Hemosonics LLC$66K
- Merck$27K
- Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd.$15K
- AbbVie$697
- Novartis$493
- Pfizer$392
- plus $4K from 41 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$711%
- Food & beverage$5,13799%
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.
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.
- Kcentra$227
- VYVGART HYTRULO$121
How this compares
$113,586 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 566 neurology providers in North Carolina.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Aimovig AutoinjectorErenumab-Aooe | 25 | $18,571 |
| Emgality PenGalcanezumab-Gnlm | 22 | $15,204 |
| Levetiracetam | 126 | $3,294 |
| Gabapentin | 108 | $2,787 |
| Propranolol Hcl ErPropranolol Hcl | 60 | $2,703 |
| Donepezil Hcl | 279 | $2,375 |
| Rivastigmine | 14 | $2,020 |
| Carbidopa-LevodopaCarbidopa/Levodopa | 111 | $1,828 |
| Pregabalin | 48 | $1,252 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 94 | $1,165 |
| Memantine Hcl | 54 | $1,162 |
| Divalproex Sodium ErDivalproex Sodium | 25 | $1,004 |
| Mirtazapine | 55 | $935 |
| Primidone | 41 | $841 |
| Carbidopa-Levodopa ErCarbidopa/Levodopa | 15 | $670 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other neurology in Hickory
- Mohammad BolouriCharlotte$16.6M
- Katherine PetersDurham$11M
- John ScagnelliRaleigh$9.3M
- T RaoCharlotte$4M
- Pramod SethiGreensboro$2.9M
- Robert ArmstrongAsheville$2.7M
- Casey JeffreysRaleigh$2.2M
- Mitchell IsaacWinston Salem$2.2M
- Vern JuelDurham$2M
- Marshall FreemanGreensboro$1.9M
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.