Christina Council, MD
Family Medicine · North Bethesda, MDNPI 1831539451
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $8,795 of the $12,058 with a category attached, or 72.9%. Gilead accounts for 89.7% of it on its own, with 14 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $6,597 and has fallen 99.1% since, to $57 in 2025. Among family medicine clinicians in MD with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 51 payments — averaging $236.43 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Gilead$11K
- AstraZeneca$268
- Novo Nordisk$268
- AbbVie$195
- Medtronic$114
- Boston Scientific$93
- plus $299 from 9 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$8,79573%
- Travel & lodging$1,42612%
- Food & beverage$1,83615%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Gilead | 21 | $10,821 |
| AstraZeneca | 3 | $268 |
| Novo Nordisk | 5 | $268 |
| AbbVie | 9 | $195 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $114 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $93 |
| Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. | 1 | $93 |
| Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $42 |
| Harmony Biosciences LLC | 1 | $34 |
| Pfizer | 2 | $27 |
| Procept Biorobotics Corporation | 1 | $23 |
| Lifescan, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Abbott | 1 | $22 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 1 | $21 |
| GSK | 1 | $15 |
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
$12,058 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 1,193 family medicine providers in Maryland.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 167 | $2,000 |
| Levothyroxine Sodium | 92 | $1,269 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 44 | $1,174 |
| Losartan Potassium | 81 | $1,161 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 135 | $1,065 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 68 | $1,065 |
| Azelastine Hcl | 29 | $1,017 |
| SynthroidLevothyroxine Sodium | 14 | $989 |
| Bupropion XlBupropion Hcl | 14 | $989 |
| Olmesartan-Amlodipine-HctzOlmesartan/Amlodipin/Hcthiazid | 13 | $729 |
| Fluticasone Propionate | 29 | $721 |
| Esomeprazole Magnesium | 13 | $616 |
| Losartan-HydrochlorothiazideLosartan/Hydrochlorothiazide | 42 | $600 |
| Trazodone Hcl | 33 | $560 |
| Lisinopril | 59 | $557 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVieSynthroid | $195 | $98914 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 95th percentile of 1,193 family medicine providers in Maryland.
Other family medicine in North Bethesda
- Yoon ChoNorth Bethesda$11K
- Karen DonaldsonBaltimore$899K
- Louis JacquesBaltimore$522K
- Michael ObiefuneBaltimore$291K
- Thomas LawrenceBerlin$254K
- Casey ScottCambridge$88K
- Daljeet SalujaBaltimore$63K
- Sanjay SaxenaHagerstown$60K
- Cynthia KleppingerSilver Spring$51K
- Tramaine DavisBowie$43K
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.