James Needell, MD
Internal Medicine · Lincolnton, NCNPI 1417988825
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 176 payments — averaging $63.52 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Daiichi Sankyo Inc.$6K
- Novo Nordisk AS$2K
- Johnson & Johnson$606
- Lilly USA, LLC$340
- Amarin Pharma, Inc.$253
- AstraZeneca$239
- plus $2K from 26 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$2,961100%
- Education$80%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 4 | $6,050 |
| Novo Nordisk AS | 1 | $2,161 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 26 | $606 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 22 | $340 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 12 | $253 |
| AstraZeneca | 17 | $239 |
| Novo Nordisk | 14 | $214 |
| Amgen | 5 | $139 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 8 | $130 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 7 | $98 |
| Novartis | 5 | $75 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 5 | $74 |
| Mylan Specialty L.p. | 5 | $70 |
| Pfizer | 4 | $69 |
| Eisai Inc. | 5 | $66 |
| Avanir Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $65 |
| GSK | 4 | $65 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 3 | $63 |
| Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 4 | $60 |
| Gilead | 3 | $49 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 3 | $44 |
| Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 3 | $43 |
| Merck | 3 | $40 |
| Advanced Respiratory, Inc | 2 | $25 |
| Masimo Corporation | 1 | $20 |
| Bayer | 1 | $20 |
| Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $18 |
| IBSA Pharma Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Corcept Therapeutics | 1 | $17 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Vifor Pharma, 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.
How this compares
$11,180 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 3,302 internal medicine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 95 | $47,741 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 40 | $47,269 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 45 | $39,777 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 70 | $26,220 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 45 | $25,446 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 26 | $17,492 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 11 | $7,971 |
| TrintellixVortioxetine Hydrobromide | 25 | $6,161 |
| Lantus SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 32 | $3,676 |
| Rivastigmine | 39 | $2,059 |
| Propranolol Hcl | 40 | $1,816 |
| Humalog Kwikpen U-100Insulin Lispro | 12 | $1,508 |
| Duloxetine Hcl | 50 | $1,379 |
| Quetiapine Fumarate | 54 | $1,336 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 176 | $1,198 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lilly USA, LLCMounjaro, Trulicity | $340 | $72,71585 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $69 | $47,74195 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $130 | $39,77745 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $606 | $26,22070 claims |
| MerckJanuvia | $40 | $17,49226 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $239 | $7,97111 claims |
| AbbVieSynthroid | $98 | $1,03911 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 90th percentile of 3,302 internal medicine providers in North Carolina.
Other internal medicine in Lincolnton
- Manesh PatelDurham$27.2M
- Saad UsmaniCharlotte$16.2M
- Christina KennellyCharlotte$15.4M
- John RubinoRaleigh$13M
- Adam DevoreDurham$11.8M
- Krishnakumar UdayakumarDurham$11M
- Sylvia ShoffnerCary$7.1M
- Wayne HarperRaleigh$6.7M
- Joseph MoranStatesville$6.7M
- April SalamaDurham$6.5M
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.