James Arter, MD
Cardiovascular Disease · Gastonia, NCNPI 1922008960
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (52.1%), food and beverage and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Abbott accounts for 82.2% of it on its own, with 7 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $1,471 and has fallen 95.0% since, to $74 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for cardiovascular disease clinicians in NC, where the typical reported total is $1,959.
Across 36 payments — averaging $59.61 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$2K
- Medtronic$131
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$92
- Boston Scientific$52
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$47
- Novartis$25
- plus $35 from 2 others
Across 1 payment — averaging $16,620 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Amarin Pharma, Inc.$17K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,11852%
- Food & beverage$1,01647%
- Education$121%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 20 | $1,764 |
| Medtronic | 7 | $131 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 1 | $92 |
| Boston Scientific | 2 | $52 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 3 | $47 |
| Novartis | 1 | $25 |
| GE HealthCare | 1 | $23 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
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
$2,146 in reported general payments places this provider in the 50th percentile of 727 cardiovascular disease providers in North Carolina.
See all cardiovascular disease providers in North 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 401 | $277,706 |
| EliquisApixaban | 272 | $257,021 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 144 | $140,271 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 51 | $53,395 |
| Praluent PenAlirocumab | 55 | $38,220 |
| VascepaIcosapent Ethyl | 26 | $24,909 |
| NexlizetBempedoic Acid/Ezetimibe | 16 | $12,290 |
| Repatha SyringeEvolocumab | 14 | $7,463 |
| NexletolBempedoic Acid | 11 | $6,779 |
| Omega-3 Acid Ethyl Esters | 59 | $5,771 |
| Ezetimibe | 287 | $5,271 |
| Icosapent Ethyl | 14 | $4,489 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 358 | $3,445 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 384 | $3,104 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 406 | $2,964 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| NovartisEntresto | $25 | $140,271144 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 50th percentile of 727 cardiovascular disease providers in North Carolina.
Other cardiovascular disease in Gastonia
- R WilliamsDurham$2.1M
- Marat FudimDurham$902K
- Jonathan PicciniDurham$767K
- Michael RinaldiCharlotte$722K
- Markus SchererCharlotte$526K
- Robert MentzDurham$489K
- Sean PokorneyMorganton$477K
- Adrian HernandezDurham$409K
- Sanjeev GulatiCharlotte$406K
- Richard BrowneCharlotte$379K
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.