Christopher Carsten, MD
Vascular Surgery · Greenville, SCNPI 1275586471
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.4% of the total across 234 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 31 manufacturers reported payments, led by W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. at 26.2% of the total.
Across 234 payments — averaging $36.29 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$2K
- Cook Medical LLC$2K
- Inari Medical, Inc.$2K
- Penumbra, Inc.$493
- Shockwave Medical, Inc$427
- Medtronic$350
- plus $2K from 25 others
Across 14 payments — averaging $2051.25 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Merit Medical Systems Inc$29K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$541%
- Food & beverage$8,43899%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 42 | $2,224 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 48 | $1,671 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 71 | $1,595 |
| Penumbra, Inc. | 7 | $493 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 6 | $427 |
| Medtronic | 9 | $350 |
| Stryker | 10 | $234 |
| Silk Road Medical, Inc. | 1 | $222 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 4 | $154 |
| Reddress USA, Inc. | 1 | $144 |
| Boston Scientific | 8 | $134 |
| Teleflex LLC | 1 | $125 |
| Endologix LLC | 1 | $87 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $82 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 3 | $67 |
| Venturemed Group, Inc. | 1 | $61 |
| Philips North America LLC | 3 | $51 |
| Urgo Medical North America, LLC | 1 | $46 |
| Surmodics, Inc. | 2 | $43 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 3 | $41 |
| Shape Memory Medical Inc. | 1 | $40 |
| Imperative Care, Inc | 1 | $35 |
| Inspiremd Ltd | 1 | $33 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $19 |
| Abbott | 1 | $18 |
| Sirtex Medical Inc | 1 | $17 |
| Reprise Biomedical, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $16 |
| Acera Surgical, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Cagent Vascular Inc | 1 | $14 |
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.
- Zilver PTX$508
- FlowTriever$392
- ClotTriever$392
- Shockwave IVL System with the Shockwave C2 Coronary IVL Catheter$335
- Penumbra System$300
- ENDURANT IIS$284
- FLOWTRIEVER CATHETER, S$243
- CT THROMBECTOMY SYSTEM KIT$243
- GORE TAG Conformable Thoracic Endoprosthesis$240
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Neuroprotection System$222
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Stent$222
- Conformable TAG Thoracic Endoprosthesis$183
- GORE VIABAHN Endoprosthesis with Heparin$179
- GORE TAG Thoracic Branch Endoprosthesis$173
- Indigo System$168
- GORE VIABAHN VBX Balloon Expandable Endo$153
- GORE EXCLUDER Iliac Branch Endoprosthesis$147
- ActiGraft$144
- GORE EXCLUDER AAA Endoprosthesis$143
- EXCLUDER Conformable AAA Endoprosthesis with Active Control$140
How this compares
$8,492 in reported general payments places this provider in the 55th percentile of 99 vascular surgery providers in South 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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 19 | $15,744 |
| Fondaparinux Sodium | 11 | $15,333 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 22 | $264 |
| Cilostazol | 12 | $134 |
| Pravastatin Sodium | 11 | $62 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 12 | $2 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other vascular surgery in Greenville
- Sagar GandhiGreenville$236K
- Joseph BlasGreenville$101K
- John YorkGreenville$42K
- Robert PattonGreenville$25K
- David WilliamsGreenville$18K
- Mark AndroesGreenville$9K
- David CullGreenville$8K
- John RossOrangeburg$847K
- David DeatonColumbia$609K
- Mathew WoosterWest Columbia$443K
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.