Gary Jerkins
Ophthalmology · Nashville, TNNPI 1184636029
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $12,500 of the $15,258 with a category attached, or 81.9%. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. accounts for 82.1% of it on its own, with 7 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $12,584 and has fallen 99.8% since, to $24 in 2025. Among ophthalmology clinicians in TN 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 24 payments — averaging $635.76 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc.$13K
- Vertical Pharmaceuticals, LLC$2K
- Alcon$356
- Novartis$354
- Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$234
- AbbVie$173
- plus $116 from 2 others
Across 462 payments — averaging $6286.34 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.
- AbbVie$1.4M
- Bausch & Lomb Americas Inc.$623K
- Novartis$341K
- Alcon Research LLC$254K
- Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$92K
- Oyster Point Pharma, Inc.$86K
- plus $121K from 6 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$1,50010%
- Speaking & faculty fees$12,50082%
- Travel & lodging$1281%
- Food & beverage$1,0907%
- Education$400%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. | 3 | $12,525 |
| Vertical Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $1,500 |
| Alcon | 3 | $356 |
| Novartis | 4 | $354 |
| Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $234 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 8 | $173 |
| Biotissue Holdings Inc. | 1 | $108 |
| Lensar, Inc. | 1 | $8 |
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.
- CEQUA$12,500
- Rhopressa$222
- Rocklatan$118
- Prokera$108
- AmnioGraft$108
How this compares
$15,258 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 323 ophthalmology providers in Tennessee.
Other ophthalmology in Nashville
- Deborah ShermanNashville$3M
- Brian BiesmanNashville$630K
- Edward ChaumNashville$158K
- Jeffrey HornNashville$106K
- Avni FinnNashville$57K
- Louise MawnNashville$56K
- Jeffrey KammerNashville$30K
- Allison SmithNashville$13K
- Christine ShiehNashville$10K
- Ira ShivitzNashville$9K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.