Gary Klipple
Rheumatology · Knoxville, TNNPI 1538263926
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.7% of the total across 139 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 20 manufacturers reported payments, led by AbbVie at 25.4% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $1,553 and has fallen 91.0% since, to $139 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for rheumatology clinicians in TN, where the typical reported total is $5,288.
Across 139 payments — averaging $18.06 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$637
- Amgen$473
- Lilly USA, LLC$262
- Pfizer$242
- Johnson & Johnson$191
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$127
- plus $579 from 14 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$2,503100%
- Education$80%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVie | 29 | $637 |
| Amgen | 25 | $473 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 15 | $262 |
| Pfizer | 22 | $242 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 10 | $191 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 9 | $127 |
| Novartis | 5 | $120 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 5 | $92 |
| Sanofi | 3 | $64 |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | 3 | $56 |
| GSK | 2 | $39 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 2 | $39 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 2 | $38 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $27 |
| Heartflow, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| UCB, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 1 | $17 |
| Dynavax Technologies Corporation | 1 | $17 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $15 |
| Gilead | 1 | $13 |
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.
- Humira$114
How this compares
$2,511 in reported general payments places this provider in the 40th percentile of 127 rheumatology providers in Tennessee.
Other rheumatology in Knoxville
- Brett SmithKnoxville$587K
- Kenny SizemoreKnoxville$27K
- Kenneth JohnsenKnoxville$17K
- Christy ParkKnoxville$16K
- Jay WarrrickKnoxville$14K
- William BushKnoxville$12K
- Marcum CollinsKnoxville$12K
- Tonya BakerKnoxville$10K
- James BurnsKnoxville$9K
- Robert CappsKnoxville$9K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.