David Lafon
Critical Care Medicine · Birmingham, ALNPI 1023375169
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $3,255 of the $3,526 with a category attached, or 92.3%. Merck accounts for 97.4% of it on its own, with 2 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $1,822 and has fallen 95.8% since, to $76 in 2025.
Across 7 payments — averaging $503.68 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Merck$3K
- Verona Pharma, Inc.$76
- AstraZeneca$16
Across 3 payments — averaging $32,985 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.
- Merck$99K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$3,25592%
- Travel & lodging$1504%
- Food & beverage$1213%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Merck | 5 | $3,434 |
| Verona Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $76 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $16 |
How this compares
$3,526 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 73 critical care medicine providers in Alabama.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dupixent PenDupilumab | 27 | $94,740 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 21 | $19,267 |
| Spiriva RespimatTiotropium Bromide | 11 | $6,657 |
| Albuterol Sulfate HfaAlbuterol Sulfate | 37 | $1,234 |
| Azithromycin | 32 | $915 |
| Prednisone | 24 | $52 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other critical care medicine in Birmingham
- James WellsBirmingham$223K
- Mark DransfieldBirmingham$160K
- George SolomonBirmingham$113K
- Tracy LuckhardtBirmingham$28K
- Keith WilleBirmingham$9K
- Victor ThannickalBirmingham$8K
- Vipul ShahBirmingham$6K
- Samuel McElweeBirmingham$5K
- Nicole SchreinerBirmingham$4K
- Dhaval RavalBirmingham$3K
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.