James Wells
Critical Care Medicine · Birmingham, ALNPI 1346453446
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $209,014 of the $222,990 with a category attached, or 93.7%. 12 manufacturers reported payments, led by Astrazeneca UK Limited at 45.0% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $105,530, more than ten times the $836 reported in 2019. Among critical care medicine clinicians in AL with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 116 payments — averaging $1922.33 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Astrazeneca UK Limited$100K
- AstraZeneca$85K
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.$29K
- Grifols Shared Services North America, Inc.$7K
- GSK$650
- Verona Pharma, Inc.$112
- plus $239 from 6 others
Across 14 payments — averaging $25,631 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.
- Verona Pharma, Inc.$267K
- Vertex$85K
- AstraZeneca$3K
- GSK$2K
- Amgen$1K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$209,01494%
- Speaking & faculty fees$12,0105%
- Travel & lodging$8800%
- Food & beverage$1,0870%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Astrazeneca UK Limited | 26 | $100,350 |
| AstraZeneca | 51 | $85,385 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 22 | $29,152 |
| Grifols Shared Services North America, Inc. | 4 | $7,103 |
| GSK | 1 | $650 |
| Verona Pharma, Inc. | 2 | $112 |
| Electromed, Inc. | 2 | $65 |
| Mylan Specialty L.p. | 2 | $58 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 3 | $50 |
| GE HealthCare | 1 | $39 |
| Stryker | 1 | $15 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
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.
- BREZTRI$96,625
- TEZSPIRE$36,252
- GLASSIA$28,739
- Prolastin-C Liquid$6,888
- TRELEGY ELLIPTA$650
How this compares
$222,990 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 73 critical care medicine providers in Alabama.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Prolastin CAlpha-1-Proteinase Inhibitor | 20 | $202,230 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 53 | $41,660 |
| Stiolto RespimatTiotropium Br/Olodaterol Hcl | 21 | $9,642 |
| Breo ElliptaFluticasone/Vilanterol | 13 | $7,457 |
| Albuterol Sulfate HfaAlbuterol Sulfate | 38 | $1,193 |
| Azithromycin | 31 | $616 |
| Montelukast Sodium | 18 | $172 |
| Prednisone | 15 | $40 |
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, Breo Ellipta | $650 | $49,11766 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimStiolto Respimat | $50 | $9,64221 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 95th percentile of 73 critical care medicine providers in Alabama.
Other critical care medicine in Birmingham
- Mark DransfieldBirmingham$160K
- George SolomonBirmingham$113K
- Tracy LuckhardtBirmingham$28K
- Keith WilleBirmingham$9K
- Victor ThannickalBirmingham$8K
- Vipul ShahBirmingham$6K
- Samuel McElweeBirmingham$5K
- Nicole SchreinerBirmingham$4K
- David LafonBirmingham$4K
- Dhaval RavalBirmingham$3K
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.