Helen Ballestas, PhD
Adult Health · Summerville, SCNPI 1144511601
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 84 payments — averaging $17.78 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$271
- Bayer$146
- Amgen$118
- Novartis$108
- Lilly USA, LLC$105
- Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC$103
- plus $642 from 19 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,48099%
- Education$141%
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 | 18 | $271 |
| Bayer | 6 | $146 |
| Amgen | 7 | $118 |
| Novartis | 6 | $108 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 6 | $105 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 3 | $103 |
| GSK | 4 | $70 |
| Novo Nordisk | 4 | $63 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 3 | $54 |
| Merck | 3 | $45 |
| AstraZeneca | 2 | $45 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 3 | $43 |
| Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 2 | $43 |
| Exact Sciences | 2 | $38 |
| Clarus Therapeutics Inc. | 2 | $34 |
| Pfizer | 2 | $29 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $28 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $28 |
| Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc | 1 | $25 |
| Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc | 1 | $23 |
| Abbott | 1 | $21 |
| Mylan Specialty L.p. | 1 | $15 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| G Medical Diagnostic Services, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
How this compares
$1,494 in reported general payments places this provider in the 60th percentile of 292 adult health 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 |
|---|---|---|
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 73 | $100,528 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 35 | $37,323 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 20 | $34,655 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 29 | $32,954 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 23 | $21,299 |
| EliquisApixaban | 12 | $17,734 |
| LinzessLinaclotide | 17 | $15,899 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 17 | $15,654 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 11 | $7,901 |
| SymbicortBudesonide/Formoterol Fumarate | 22 | $4,601 |
| Aripiprazole | 11 | $3,512 |
| Lantus SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 24 | $3,318 |
| Albuterol Sulfate HfaAlbuterol Sulfate | 78 | $2,905 |
| Losartan Potassium | 159 | $1,972 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 217 | $1,938 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $54 | $100,52873 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Symbicort | $45 | $41,92357 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCTrulicity | $105 | $34,65520 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $63 | $32,95429 claims |
| MerckJanuvia | $45 | $21,29923 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $29 | $17,73412 claims |
| AbbVieLinzess | $271 | $15,89917 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta | $70 | $15,65417 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $28 | $7,90111 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 60th percentile of 292 adult health providers in South Carolina.
Other adult health in Summerville
- Chikako RiesterSummerville$8K
- Kathleen WatersSummerville$6K
- Karen RobertsonGreenville$69K
- Christine FranzeseTega Cay$30K
- Jessica RiceGreenville$15K
- Michelle PriceCharleston$13K
- Melissa McCarterSpartanburg$12K
- Andrea OlsonWest Columbia$12K
- Jennifer BrittIrmo$11K
- Nichole SnowSpartanburg$10K
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.