Eric Stem, MD
Sports Medicine · Charleston, SCNPI 1831100064
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
It is spread thinly across 22 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 20.7%. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $1,877 and has fallen 75.7% since, to $456 in 2025.
Across 94 payments — averaging $61.32 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Conformis, Inc.$1K
- Medtronic$1K
- Peerless Surgical Inc.$888
- Stryker$696
- Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc.$597
- Exactech, Inc.$312
- plus $1K from 16 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$2,63046%
- Food & beverage$3,13554%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Conformis, Inc. | 10 | $1,195 |
| Medtronic | 6 | $1,005 |
| Peerless Surgical Inc. | 5 | $888 |
| Stryker | 10 | $696 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 25 | $597 |
| Exactech, Inc. | 2 | $312 |
| Arthrex | 5 | $278 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $198 |
| Heron Therapeutics, Inc. | 4 | $80 |
| ERMI LLC | 2 | $66 |
| Abbott | 4 | $61 |
| Fidia Pharma USA Inc. | 2 | $54 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $51 |
| Orthogenrx Inc. | 3 | $50 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 3 | $49 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 3 | $46 |
| Convatec Inc. | 2 | $36 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 1 | $29 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $18 |
| Nalu Medical, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Zyla Life Sciences, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
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.
- Hip$955
- AQUAMANTYS$847
- MAKO$402
- ALTEON$312
- OSS Orthopedic Salvage System$198
- TRIATHLON$110
How this compares
$5,765 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 158 sports medicine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Diclofenac Sodium | 332 | $3,400 |
| Nitrofurantoin Mono-MacroNitrofurantoin Monohyd/M-Cryst | 56 | $810 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 65 | $624 |
| Clindamycin Hcl | 16 | $496 |
| Gabapentin | 92 | $445 |
| Meloxicam | 190 | $440 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 56 | $197 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 21 | $157 |
| Naproxen | 12 | $135 |
| Mupirocin | 14 | $98 |
| Amoxicillin | 66 | $89 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 17 | $79 |
| Celecoxib | 16 | $64 |
| Potassium Chloride | 12 | $35 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other sports medicine in Charleston
- Harris SloneCharleston$72K
- William PullenCharleston$48K
- Shelli CiandellaCharleston$11K
- Eugene HongCharleston$3K
- Silas HolmesColumbia$2.2M
- Stephan PillGreenville$688K
- Steven MartinSeneca$356K
- Stefan TolanGreenville$280K
- Michael KissenberthGreenville$172K
- Guillaume DumontWest Columbia$146K
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.