Kakarla Chalam, MD
Ophthalmology · Loma Linda, CANPI 1336112812
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by travel and lodging: $573 of the $826 with a category attached, or 69.4%. Alcon accounts for 69.4% of it on its own, with 4 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $598 and has fallen 94.2% since, to $34 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for ophthalmology clinicians in CA, where the typical reported total is $1,218.
Across 9 payments — averaging $91.76 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Alcon$573
- Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc.$127
- AbbVie$59
- Optos, Inc.$42
- Novartis$25
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$57369%
- Food & beverage$22127%
- Education$152%
- Entertainment$172%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alcon | 1 | $573 |
| Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. | 2 | $127 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 2 | $59 |
| Optos, Inc. | 3 | $42 |
| Novartis | 1 | $25 |
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.
- DAILIES$573
- CIRRUS HD-OCT$112
- PLEX Elite 9000$112
- Clarus 700$112
How this compares
$826 in reported general payments places this provider in the 40th percentile of 2,513 ophthalmology providers in California.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Bromfenac Sodium | 12 | $3,087 |
| Prednisolone Acetate | 40 | $1,725 |
| Brimonidine Tartrate-TimololBrimonidine Tartrate/Timolol | 11 | $1,605 |
| Tobramycin-DexamethasoneTobramycin/Dexamethasone | 27 | $1,164 |
| Neomycin-Polymyxin-DexamethNeomycin/Polymyxin B/Dexametha | 21 | $499 |
| Timolol Maleate | 23 | $115 |
| Dorzolamide-TimololDorzolamide Hcl/Timolol Maleat | 12 | $105 |
| Latanoprost | 27 | $104 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other ophthalmology in Loma Linda
- John AffeldtLoma Linda$1.1M
- Jay MattheisLoma Linda$176K
- Daniel SchwartzSan Francisco$8M
- Michael BerlinWest Hollywood$5.7M
- Gilbert KlimanMenlo Park$1.5M
- Kuldev SinghStanford$1.5M
- Raymond DouglasBeverly Hills$1.3M
- Srinivas SaddaPasadena$1M
- Sheri RowenNewport Beach$1M
- Savak TeymoorianLaguna Hills$955K
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.