Dennis Melton
Internal Medicine · Atlanta, GANPI 1982604336
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 98.4% of the total across 206 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 16 manufacturers reported payments, led by Viiv Healthcare Company at 31.5% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $991 and has fallen 87.2% since, to $127 in 2025.
Across 206 payments — averaging $17.69 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Viiv Healthcare Company$1K
- Gilead$966
- Merck$434
- Johnson & Johnson$273
- EMD Serono, Inc.$260
- Theratechnologies Inc.$155
- plus $406 from 10 others
Across 13 payments — averaging $2962.83 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.
- Viiv Healthcare Company$39K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$3,58798%
- Education$572%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Viiv Healthcare Company | 63 | $1,149 |
| Gilead | 52 | $966 |
| Merck | 25 | $434 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 23 | $273 |
| EMD Serono, Inc. | 18 | $260 |
| Theratechnologies Inc. | 9 | $155 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 5 | $96 |
| Octapharma USA, Inc. | 1 | $92 |
| Janssen Products, LP | 1 | $57 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 2 | $40 |
| Novo Nordisk | 2 | $32 |
| Insmed, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 1 | $20 |
| Exact Sciences | 1 | $18 |
| Grifols USA, LLC | 1 | $17 |
| Napo Pharmaceuticals 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
$3,644 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 3,311 internal medicine providers in Georgia.
Other internal medicine in Atlanta
- Tracey HenryAtlanta$305K
- Scott ParryAtlanta$162K
- Jennifer GilliganAtlanta$162K
- Tanna LimAtlanta$88K
- Sally IwamotoAtlanta$60K
- Antoine TrammellAtlanta$33K
- Samuel AdamsAtlanta$30K
- Jamal HajjariAtlanta$29K
- Carlos SaldanaAtlanta$25K
- Michael HicksonAtlanta$22K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.