John Elfervig
Retina Specialist · Memphis, TNNPI 1619910544
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 95.5% of the total across 29 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 11 manufacturers reported payments, led by AbbVie at 36.3% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $1,403 and has fallen 91.8% since, to $116 in 2023. That places this record below the midpoint for retina specialist clinicians in TN, where the typical reported total is $3,018.
Across 29 payments — averaging $68.23 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$719
- Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc.$213
- Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc.$195
- Novartis$152
- Amgen$149
- Genentech USA, Inc.$123
- plus $427 from 5 others
Across 155 payments — averaging $6497.92 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.
- AbbVie$1M
- Novartis$3K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,88995%
- Entertainment$905%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 12 | $719 |
| Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. | 3 | $213 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 2 | $195 |
| Novartis | 3 | $152 |
| Amgen | 3 | $149 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 1 | $123 |
| Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $121 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 1 | $108 |
| Optos, Inc. | 1 | $90 |
| Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision, Inc. | 1 | $89 |
| Bausch & Lomb, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 1 | $18 |
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
$1,979 in reported general payments places this provider in the 35th percentile of 58 retina specialist providers in Tennessee.
Other retina specialist in Memphis
- Ana FloresMemphis$9K
- Steven WilliamsMemphis$3K
- Andrew KraussMemphis$752
- Steve CharlesGermantown$5.8M
- Carl AwhNashville$1.3M
- Peter SonkinNashville$949K
- Brandon BusbeeNashville$566K
- Eric SchneiderNashville$134K
- David ReichsteinNashville$114K
- Akshay ThomasNashville$108K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.