Cindy Besson, MD
Gynecology · Aiken, SCNPI 1265426019
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.0% of the total across 120 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 25 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 23.4% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $751 and has fallen 96.7% since, to $25 in 2025.
Across 120 payments — averaging $18.23 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$513
- Amgen$325
- Daiichi Sankyo Inc.$235
- Therapeuticsmd, Inc.$177
- Pfizer$170
- Astellas Pharma US Inc$155
- plus $612 from 19 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$2,16799%
- Education$211%
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 | 33 | $513 |
| Amgen | 15 | $325 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 6 | $235 |
| Therapeuticsmd, Inc. | 11 | $177 |
| Pfizer | 11 | $170 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 9 | $155 |
| Upsher-smith Laboratories LLC | 4 | $72 |
| Hologic Sales And Service, LLC | 3 | $64 |
| Novo Nordisk | 4 | $59 |
| Vivus LLC | 3 | $54 |
| Aspira Women's Health Inc | 2 | $40 |
| Mayne Pharma Commercial LLC | 2 | $39 |
| Evofem Biosciences, Inc. | 2 | $36 |
| Bayer | 2 | $31 |
| Agile Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $26 |
| Renalytix AI, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Vertical Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $25 |
| Mycovia Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $22 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Myovant Sciences Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Exeltis, USA Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Coopersurgical, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Idorsia Pharmaceuticals US Inc | 1 | $14 |
| Avion Pharmaceuticals | 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.
- INJECTAFER$125
- EVENITY$114
How this compares
$2,188 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 39 gynecology 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 |
|---|---|---|
| MyrbetriqMirabegron | 34 | $32,511 |
| PremarinEstrogens, Conjugated | 66 | $32,009 |
| Estradiol | 695 | $21,411 |
| PremproEstrogen,con/M-Progest Acet | 19 | $10,048 |
| ImvexxyEstradiol | 23 | $8,331 |
| Estradiol (Twice Weekly)Estradiol | 55 | $4,982 |
| ProgesteroneProgesterone, Micronized | 110 | $3,259 |
| IntrarosaPrasterone (Dhea) | 12 | $3,123 |
| MinivelleEstradiol | 13 | $2,952 |
| Clobetasol Propionate | 47 | $2,829 |
| Raloxifene Hcl | 46 | $2,766 |
| SynthroidLevothyroxine Sodium | 21 | $2,505 |
| Estradiol (Once Weekly)Estradiol | 24 | $1,771 |
| Estradiol-Norethindrone AcetatEstradiol/Norethindrone Acet | 15 | $1,207 |
| Bupropion XlBupropion Hcl | 16 | $1,094 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PfizerPremarin, Prempro | $170 | $42,05785 claims |
| Astellas Pharma US IncMyrbetriq | $155 | $32,51134 claims |
| Therapeuticsmd, Inc.Imvexxy | $177 | $8,33123 claims |
| AbbVieSynthroid | $513 | $2,50521 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 39 gynecology providers in South Carolina.
Other gynecology in Aiken
- Andrea PezzellaWest Columbia$99K
- Albert OdomColumbia$26K
- Caroline FeltySimpsonville$7K
- Adrienne EllisSimpsonville$6K
- Claude TolbertBluffton$3K
- Elaine EustisMt. Pleasant$3K
- Courtney PostonCharleston$3K
- Rhonda LeachMount Pleasant$2K
- Edmund RhettMt Pleasant$2K
- Jay EricksonGreenwood$2K
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.