James Burns
Rheumatology · Knoxville, TNNPI 1235118803
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.6% of the total across 615 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 35 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 21.9% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $3,128 and has fallen 97.0% since, to $95 in 2022.
Across 615 payments — averaging $14.79 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Amgen$2K
- AbbVie$1K
- Novartis$892
- Johnson & Johnson$741
- Lilly USA, LLC$571
- UCB, Inc.$565
- plus $3K from 29 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$9,058100%
- Education$410%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Amgen(2 entities) | 129 | $1,992 |
| AbbVie | 97 | $1,135 |
| Novartis | 57 | $892 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 43 | $741 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 36 | $571 |
| UCB, Inc. | 46 | $565 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 35 | $462 |
| Pfizer | 34 | $453 |
| GSK | 24 | $355 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 15 | $233 |
| Sanofi | 11 | $200 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 10 | $195 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 12 | $165 |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | 8 | $155 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 6 | $114 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 1 | $88 |
| Sobi, Inc | 5 | $86 |
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 6 | $83 |
| Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc | 5 | $78 |
| Gilead | 4 | $63 |
| Antares Pharma, Inc. | 4 | $61 |
| Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC | 3 | $59 |
| Neurelis, Inc. | 3 | $48 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 3 | $48 |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA | 3 | $44 |
| Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. | 3 | $43 |
| Merck | 3 | $39 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 2 | $30 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Portola Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $17 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 1 | $14 |
| Assertio Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Redhill Biopharma Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $11 |
| Zyla Life Sciences, Inc. | 1 | $11 |
How this compares
$9,099 in reported general payments places this provider in the 60th percentile of 127 rheumatology providers in Tennessee.
Other rheumatology in Knoxville
- Brett SmithKnoxville$587K
- Kenny SizemoreKnoxville$27K
- Kenneth JohnsenKnoxville$17K
- Christy ParkKnoxville$16K
- Jay WarrrickKnoxville$14K
- William BushKnoxville$12K
- Marcum CollinsKnoxville$12K
- Tonya BakerKnoxville$10K
- Robert CappsKnoxville$9K
- Patrick MastinKnoxville$8K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.