Gulzar Merchant, MD
Rheumatology · Greenville, SCNPI 1811944754
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $12,700 of the $18,110 with a category attached, or 70.1%. AbbVie accounts for 81.3% of it on its own, with 23 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $11,723 and has fallen 91.2% since, to $1,033 in 2025.
Across 205 payments — averaging $88.34 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$15K
- Amgen$739
- Johnson & Johnson$453
- Pfizer$223
- AstraZeneca$203
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$202
- plus $2K from 18 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$12,70070%
- Travel & lodging$6914%
- Food & beverage$4,68326%
- Education$350%
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 | 56 | $14,731 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 37 | $739 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 20 | $453 |
| Pfizer | 12 | $223 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 8 | $203 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 12 | $202 |
| Novartis | 9 | $200 |
| UCB, Inc. | 8 | $199 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 10 | $192 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 5 | $181 |
| GSK | 6 | $167 |
| Organon | 4 | $107 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 2 | $101 |
| Octapharma USA, Inc. | 1 | $74 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 2 | $69 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 2 | $45 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 2 | $43 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 2 | $37 |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | 2 | $34 |
| Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC | 1 | $26 |
| Sanofi | 1 | $25 |
| Hospira, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Sobi, Inc | 1 | $22 |
| Antares Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
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
$18,110 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 123 rheumatology 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cimzia (2 Pack)Certolizumab Pegol | 66 | $359,212 |
| Enbrel SureclickEtanercept | 45 | $315,499 |
| Humira(Cf) PenAdalimumab | 43 | $306,087 |
| Humira(Cf)Adalimumab | 18 | $206,531 |
| ActemraTocilizumab | 34 | $186,552 |
| Xeljanz XrTofacitinib Citrate | 24 | $137,292 |
| RinvoqUpadacitinib | 22 | $133,775 |
| XeljanzTofacitinib Citrate | 17 | $93,725 |
| Orencia ClickjectAbatacept | 17 | $91,735 |
| Teriparatide | 33 | $68,152 |
| KevzaraSarilumab | 15 | $62,886 |
| MethotrexateMethotrexate Sodium | 671 | $14,658 |
| RasuvoMethotrexate/Pf | 24 | $12,819 |
| Leflunomide | 219 | $8,470 |
| Prednisone | 731 | $4,503 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| UCB, Inc.Cimzia (2 Pack) | $199 | $359,21266 claims |
| AbbVieHumira(Cf), Rinvoq | $14,731 | $340,30640 claims |
| PfizerXeljanz | $223 | $93,72517 claims |
| SanofiKevzara | $25 | $62,88615 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 80th percentile of 123 rheumatology providers in South Carolina.
Other rheumatology in Greenville
- Alan BrownGreenville$947K
- Long Huynh-DucGreenville$278K
- Corey EphrussiGreenville$54K
- Suhail KumarGreenville$23K
- Richard KimGreenville$20K
- Jeffrey LawsonGreenville$15K
- Ezinma EzealahGreenville$12K
- Stephen MullisGreenville$8K
- Corwin McGeeGreenville$5K
- Muthamma MachimadaGreenville$5K
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.