Lauren Vargo, PA
Dermatology · Columbia, SCNPI 1689625808
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $14,685 of the $17,278 with a category attached, or 85.0%. It is spread thinly across 30 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 16.8% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. 2025 is the largest year on record at $5,896, 3.1 times the $1,891 reported in 2021. Among dermatology clinicians in SC with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 637 payments — averaging $27.12 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- UCB, Inc.$3K
- AbbVie$3K
- Johnson & Johnson$2K
- Novartis$1K
- Incyte Corporation$1K
- Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc.$1K
- plus $7K from 24 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$1,89011%
- Speaking & faculty fees$901%
- Food & beverage$14,68585%
- Education$6134%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| UCB, Inc. | 55 | $2,911 |
| AbbVie | 97 | $2,624 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 90 | $1,923 |
| Novartis | 76 | $1,176 |
| Incyte Corporation | 22 | $1,077 |
| Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. | 34 | $1,031 |
| EPI Health, LLC | 2 | $840 |
| Sanofi | 41 | $801 |
| Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC | 6 | $643 |
| Amgen | 29 | $634 |
| Galderma Laboratories, L.p. | 31 | $613 |
| Pfizer | 28 | $524 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 23 | $450 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 23 | $332 |
| Dermavant Sciences, Inc. | 22 | $281 |
| LEO Pharma Inc. | 9 | $267 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 12 | $241 |
| Ortho Dermatologics, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 7 | $241 |
| Helsinn Therapeutics (U.S.), Inc. | 9 | $158 |
| Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. | 5 | $154 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 4 | $98 |
| Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 2 | $47 |
| Organon | 2 | $41 |
| Botanix SB Inc | 2 | $33 |
| Regeneron | 1 | $33 |
| VYNE Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $29 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $25 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Cipher Pharmaceuticals US LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Strata Skin Sciences, 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
$17,278 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 203 dermatology providers in South 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dupixent PenDupilumab | 22 | $91,548 |
| OtezlaApremilast | 11 | $52,519 |
| OpzeluraRuxolitinib Phosphate | 15 | $29,123 |
| Clobetasol Propionate | 95 | $4,503 |
| Pimecrolimus | 12 | $4,153 |
| Fluorouracil | 53 | $2,732 |
| Doxycycline Hyclate | 136 | $2,470 |
| Ammonium Lactate | 118 | $2,392 |
| Triamcinolone Acetonide | 99 | $1,777 |
| Hydrocortisone Valerate | 19 | $1,555 |
| Ketoconazole | 67 | $1,195 |
| Metronidazole | 20 | $1,079 |
| ValacyclovirValacyclovir Hcl | 43 | $935 |
| Tretinoin | 14 | $805 |
| Mupirocin | 98 | $601 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AmgenOtezla | $634 | $52,51911 claims |
| Incyte CorporationOpzelura | $1,077 | $29,12315 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 203 dermatology providers in South Carolina.
Other dermatology in Columbia
- Seth HowellColumbia$53K
- Cody ConnorColumbia$28K
- Jessica BurgyColumbia$14K
- Kaitlyn PowellColumbia$13K
- Ann Harriott ErvinColumbia$8K
- Marshall ShulerGreenville$2.6M
- Rebecca SmithFort Mill$2.3M
- Todd SchlesingerCharleston$1.9M
- Amylynne FrankelSpartanburg$987K
- Marguerite GermainMt Pleasant$200K
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.