Ikemefula Ekekwe, MD
Critical Care Medicine · Fayetteville, GANPI 1952505570
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $3,605 of the $4,319 with a category attached, or 83.5%. 22 manufacturers reported payments, led by GSK at 29.3% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $1,746 and has fallen 75.4% since, to $430 in 2024.
Across 146 payments — averaging $29.59 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- GSK$1K
- Inspire Medical Systems, Inc.$1K
- AstraZeneca$436
- Boehringer Ingelheim$307
- Sanofi$192
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.$159
- plus $700 from 16 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$71517%
- Food & beverage$3,60583%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| GSK | 51 | $1,266 |
| Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. | 11 | $1,259 |
| AstraZeneca | 18 | $436 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 17 | $307 |
| Sanofi | 7 | $192 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 7 | $159 |
| Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. | 3 | $108 |
| Mylan Specialty L.p. | 5 | $89 |
| Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 4 | $74 |
| Amgen | 4 | $69 |
| Advanced Respiratory, Inc | 2 | $47 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 2 | $47 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 3 | $47 |
| Grifols USA, LLC | 2 | $39 |
| Merck | 2 | $36 |
| Pfizer | 2 | $34 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Insmed, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Resmed Corp | 1 | $18 |
| 3b Medical, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, 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.
- Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation System$548
- Inspire$469
- NUCALA$342
- TRELEGY ELLIPTA$125
- TEZSPIRE$102
How this compares
$4,319 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 265 critical care medicine providers in Georgia.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 69 | $49,494 |
| Breztri AerosphereBudesonide/Glycopyr/Formoterol | 24 | $15,057 |
| Anoro ElliptaUmeclidinium Brm/Vilanterol Tr | 11 | $11,317 |
| Spiriva RespimatTiotropium Bromide | 19 | $10,177 |
| SymbicortBudesonide/Formoterol Fumarate | 19 | $7,042 |
| Breo ElliptaFluticasone/Vilanterol | 11 | $4,143 |
| Fluticasone-SalmeterolFluticasone Propion/Salmeterol | 21 | $3,153 |
| Albuterol Sulfate HfaAlbuterol Sulfate | 111 | $2,388 |
| Ventolin HfaAlbuterol Sulfate | 16 | $995 |
| Ipratropium Bromide | 12 | $537 |
| Fluticasone Propionate | 34 | $300 |
| Azithromycin | 14 | $229 |
| Clonazepam | 23 | $175 |
| Pramipexole DihydrochloridePramipexole Di-Hcl | 17 | $163 |
| Prednisone | 51 | $161 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Anoro Ellipta, Breo Ellipta | $1,266 | $64,95391 claims |
| AstraZenecaBreztri Aerosphere, Symbicort | $436 | $22,10043 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimSpiriva Respimat | $307 | $10,17719 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 85th percentile of 265 critical care medicine providers in Georgia.
Other critical care medicine in Fayetteville
- Arvind PonnambalamFayetteville$3K
- Curtis ColeyFayetteville$2K
- Olumuyiwa JoshuaFayetteville$2K
- Salman FidahusseinLagrange$852K
- Bruce FriedmanAugusta$629K
- Gregory MauldinSnellville$221K
- Ramzy RimawiAtlanta$72K
- Rafael Alba YunenBrunswick$58K
- April McDonaldGainesville$41K
- Matthew SchmittAtlanta$32K
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.