James Benner, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · North Charleston, SCNPI 1447336177
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $9,550 of the $11,094 with a category attached, or 86.1%. 26 manufacturers reported payments, led by Inari Medical, Inc. at 30.5% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $3,373 and has fallen 71.5% since, to $960 in 2025.
Across 178 payments — averaging $62.33 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Inari Medical, Inc.$3K
- Atricure, Inc.$2K
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$2K
- Silk Road Medical, Inc.$1K
- Philips North America LLC$388
- Medtronic$384
- plus $2K from 20 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,0409%
- Food & beverage$9,55086%
- Education$5055%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 24 | $3,388 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 41 | $1,886 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 13 | $1,790 |
| Silk Road Medical, Inc. | 8 | $1,097 |
| Philips North America LLC | 8 | $388 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 14 | $384 |
| Boston Scientific | 14 | $349 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 17 | $306 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 3 | $275 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 2 | $190 |
| Sanara Medtech Inc. | 1 | $156 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 6 | $135 |
| Elutia, Inc. | 8 | $130 |
| Abiomed | 2 | $94 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 2 | $90 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 1 | $57 |
| Abbott | 3 | $53 |
| Smith+Nephew | 2 | $52 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 1 | $51 |
| Peerless Surgical Inc. | 1 | $43 |
| Stryker | 1 | $41 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 1 | $35 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 2 | $33 |
| LSI Solutions Inc | 1 | $29 |
| Nuwellis, Inc. | 1 | $28 |
| Veran Medical Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
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.
- FLOWTRIEVER CATHETER, S$2,753
- FlowTriever$1,224
- ClotTriever$1,224
- CT THROMBECTOMY SYSTEM KIT$1,155
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Neuroprotection System$986
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Stent System$838
- ENHANCE Transcarotid Peripheral Access Kit$838
- ENROUTE 0.014 Guidewire$838
- GORE VIABAHN VBX Balloon Expandable Endo$727
- VIABAHN VBX Balloon Expandable Endoprosthesis$654
- SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM$547
- EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYSTEM WITH VISITRAX$402
- Barostim Neo System$255
- EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYS$243
- ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION SYSTEM$236
- CellerateRx$156
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Stent$148
- ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOSPHERE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM$148
- GORE VIABAHN Endoprosthesis$135
- TandemLife$133
How this compares
$11,094 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 83 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in South Carolina.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 23 | $286 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 22 | $220 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 19 | $178 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in North Charleston
- Charles RobertsNorth Charleston$13K
- Curtis QuinnCharleston$374K
- Marc KatzCharleston$265K
- Arman KilicCharleston$170K
- Barry GibneyCharleston$39K
- Jacob KlapperCharleston$38K
- John KelemenHilton Head Island$35K
- Kathryn EngelhartdtCharleston$33K
- Gautam BhatiaGreenville$31K
- Sanford ZeiglerCharleston$30K
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.