Christopher Fortson, MD
Family Medicine · Fort Smith, ARNPI 1770842148
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 123 payments — averaging $19.56 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$526
- GSK$317
- Lilly USA, LLC$164
- Gilead$161
- Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc.$122
- Novo Nordisk$119
- plus $997 from 27 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$2,398100%
- Education$80%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVie | 39 | $526 |
| GSK | 16 | $317 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 11 | $164 |
| Gilead | 2 | $161 |
| Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $122 |
| Novo Nordisk | 7 | $119 |
| Alkermes, Inc. | 1 | $110 |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | 1 | $103 |
| Exact Sciences | 5 | $83 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 3 | $62 |
| Amgen | 4 | $61 |
| Pfizer | 4 | $61 |
| Sanofi Pasteur Inc. | 2 | $57 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. | 2 | $46 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 2 | $45 |
| Abbott | 2 | $42 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 2 | $33 |
| Dynavax Technologies Corporation | 2 | $30 |
| Bayer | 2 | $27 |
| Merck | 2 | $26 |
| Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Idorsia Pharmaceuticals US Inc | 1 | $19 |
| ITI, Inc. (d/b/a Intra-cellular Therapies, Inc.) | 1 | $18 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 1 | $18 |
| Alfasigma USA, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Coloplast | 1 | $16 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $16 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $15 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $14 |
| Novartis | 1 | $14 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $11 |
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
$2,406 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 1,347 family medicine providers in Arkansas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| BiktarvyBictegrav/Emtricit/Tenofov Ala | 13 | $70,227 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 56 | $58,288 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 34 | $47,075 |
| EliquisApixaban | 30 | $25,439 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 25 | $21,380 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 16 | $15,403 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 11 | $15,257 |
| Spiriva HandihalerTiotropium Bromide | 12 | $6,216 |
| Breo ElliptaFluticasone/Vilanterol | 12 | $4,572 |
| Incruse ElliptaUmeclidinium Bromide | 12 | $4,144 |
| Lantus SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 17 | $2,629 |
| Budesonide-Formoterol FumarateBudesonide/Formoterol Fumarate | 13 | $2,068 |
| Albuterol Sulfate HfaAlbuterol Sulfate | 64 | $1,555 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 248 | $1,429 |
| SynthroidLevothyroxine Sodium | 20 | $1,358 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| GileadBiktarvy | $161 | $70,22713 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $18 | $58,28856 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $119 | $47,07534 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Breo Ellipta, Incruse Ellipta | $317 | $30,09649 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $61 | $25,43930 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $16 | $15,40316 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCMounjaro | $164 | $15,25711 claims |
| AbbVieSynthroid | $526 | $1,35820 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 75th percentile of 1,347 family medicine providers in Arkansas.
Other family medicine in Fort Smith
- Glenn GibbonsFort Smith$179K
- Thinh NguyenFort Smith$28K
- Allen BeachyFort Smith$21K
- Michael CallawayFort Smith$15K
- George KonisLittle Rock$26.6M
- Kevin RobertsLittle Rock$2.5M
- Derek LewisLittle Rock$1.7M
- Jodi SansonHot Springs$1.7M
- Senthil RaghavanLittle Rock$496K
- Broderick EatonWynne$442K
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.