Gene Cheng, MD
Internal Medicine · Augusta, MENPI 1679534770
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.0% of the total across 1,212 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 42 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 16.0% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Among internal medicine clinicians in ME with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 1,212 payments — averaging $17.91 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$3K
- Pfizer$3K
- Amgen$2K
- AstraZeneca$1K
- GSK$1K
- Novo Nordisk$1K
- plus $10K from 36 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$21,49299%
- Education$2171%
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.
How this compares
$21,708 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 445 internal medicine providers in Maine.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 89 | $122,650 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 61 | $68,157 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 54 | $63,790 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 30 | $46,785 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 43 | $45,904 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 26 | $43,149 |
| TradjentaLinagliptin | 27 | $25,082 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 15 | $17,323 |
| AbrysvoRsv Vacc, Pref A And Pref B/Pf | 40 | $12,245 |
| Breo ElliptaFluticasone/Vilanterol | 19 | $11,353 |
| Anoro ElliptaUmeclidinium Brm/Vilanterol Tr | 11 | $6,106 |
| Dexlansoprazole DrDexlansoprazole | 12 | $5,740 |
| LumiganBimatoprost | 11 | $5,729 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 545 | $5,307 |
| Levothyroxine Sodium | 351 | $5,304 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PfizerEliquis, Abrysvo | $2,877 | $134,895129 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Breo Ellipta, Anoro Ellipta, Shingrix | $1,267 | $88,291104 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance, Tradjenta | $541 | $68,23153 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $1,101 | $63,79054 claims |
| MerckJanuvia | $999 | $46,78530 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $551 | $45,90443 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCTrulicity | $568 | $17,32315 claims |
| AbbVieLumigan, Synthroid | $3,479 | $7,67946 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 95th percentile of 445 internal medicine providers in Maine.
Other internal medicine in Augusta
- Peter GuzzettiAugusta$11K
- Donald StricklandAugusta$6K
- Nananda ColPortland$124K
- Heidi DeblockPortland$27K
- Elizabeth DennisWestbrook$17K
- Hassan AbouleishHoulton$15K
- Linford StillsonWestbrook$11K
- Peter LeightonBridgton$10K
- Tony VargheseBaltimore$8K
- Edwin TanAuburn$6K
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.