Denise Gabrielle Sese, MD
Pulmonary Disease · Charleston, SCNPI 1043626641
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (44.4%), consulting fees and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. accounts for 63.4% of it on its own, with 9 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $43,235, more than ten times the $269 reported in 2019. Among pulmonary disease clinicians in SC with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 98 payments — averaging $523.34 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.$33K
- Johnson & Johnson$11K
- Merck$6K
- United Therapeutics Corporation$1K
- Inari Medical, Inc.$252
- Stryker$148
- plus $177 from 4 others
Across 2 payments — averaging $12,037 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.
- United Therapeutics Corporation$24K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$15,88531%
- Speaking & faculty fees$22,75544%
- Travel & lodging$8,73917%
- Food & beverage$3,9038%
- Education$50%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 50 | $32,508 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 12 | $11,295 |
| Merck | 10 | $5,882 |
| United Therapeutics Corporation | 19 | $1,025 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 1 | $252 |
| Stryker | 1 | $148 |
| Insmed, Inc. | 1 | $85 |
| Sandoz | 2 | $47 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $24 |
| La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company | 1 | $21 |
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.
- UPTRAVI$38,300
- OPSUMIT$33,866
- VELETRI$11,116
- WINREVAIR$5,483
- FLOWTRIEVER CATHETER, S$401
- CT THROMBECTOMY SYSTEM KIT$401
- OPSYNVI$389
- ORENITRAM$234
- TYVASO$234
- REMODULIN$234
How this compares
$51,287 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 192 pulmonary disease 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 |
|---|---|---|
| UptraviSelexipag | 110 | $2,646,316 |
| Tyvaso DpiTreprostinil | 99 | $2,482,556 |
| AdempasRiociguat | 157 | $2,128,409 |
| Ambrisentan | 331 | $1,103,467 |
| OpsumitMacitentan | 72 | $913,464 |
| WinrevairSotatercept-Csrk | 43 | $749,873 |
| Tadalafil | 587 | $551,717 |
| LetairisAmbrisentan | 26 | $329,662 |
| OfevNintedanib Esylate | 23 | $297,885 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 209 | $141,454 |
| Dupixent PenDupilumab | 30 | $134,890 |
| EliquisApixaban | 91 | $66,922 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 50 | $42,409 |
| Sildenafil Citrate | 158 | $38,592 |
| Advair HfaFluticasone Propion/Salmeterol | 68 | $32,586 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.Uptravi, Opsumit | $32,508 | $3,559,780182 claims |
| MerckWinrevair | $5,882 | $749,87343 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Symbicort | $24 | $30,76334 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 90th percentile of 192 pulmonary disease providers in South Carolina.
Other pulmonary disease in Charleston
- Patrick FlumeCharleston$418K
- Gerard SilvestriCharleston$254K
- Timothy WhelanCharleston$41K
- Marc JudsonCharleston$28K
- John HugginsCharleston$18K
- John CoxCharleston$16K
- Adam FoxCharleston$13K
- Michael SpandorferCharleston$12K
- Rachana KrishnaCharleston$9K
- Abhijit RavalAnderson$2M
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.