Leah Balch
Gerontology · Greeneville, TNNPI 1225451925
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $7,829 of the $9,397 with a category attached, or 83.3%. 33 manufacturers reported payments, led by AbbVie at 35.3% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $3,731, 2.9 times the $1,277 reported in 2021. Among gerontology clinicians in TN 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 477 payments — averaging $19.70 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$3K
- Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC$1K
- Gilead$618
- Johnson & Johnson$599
- Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.$576
- Neurelis, Inc.$513
- plus $3K from 27 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$1,40015%
- Travel & lodging$1682%
- Food & beverage$7,82983%
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 | 111 | $3,321 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 106 | $1,234 |
| Gilead | 43 | $618 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 31 | $599 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 40 | $576 |
| Neurelis, Inc. | 15 | $513 |
| UCB, Inc. | 21 | $503 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 12 | $201 |
| Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 9 | $181 |
| Nestle Healthcare Nutrition Inc. | 10 | $180 |
| Argenx US, Inc. | 10 | $178 |
| Aimmune Therapeutics, Inc. | 9 | $165 |
| Redhill Biopharma Inc. | 10 | $159 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 8 | $156 |
| AstraZeneca | 4 | $103 |
| Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 5 | $84 |
| Pfizer | 5 | $71 |
| Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. | 3 | $68 |
| Sanofi | 3 | $66 |
| Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 2 | $59 |
| Merck | 4 | $57 |
| Sandoz | 2 | $45 |
| Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC | 3 | $42 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 2 | $39 |
| SK Life Science, Inc. | 1 | $32 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $19 |
| Eisai Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Intra-sana Laboratories | 1 | $16 |
| Braintree Laboratories, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 1 | $16 |
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.
- Creon$1,568
How this compares
$9,397 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 194 gerontology providers in Tennessee.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| StelaraUstekinumab | 29 | $857,756 |
| Humira(Cf) PenAdalimumab | 66 | $601,298 |
| EpclusaSofosbuvir/Velpatasvir | 14 | $383,104 |
| CreonLipase/Protease/Amylase | 45 | $310,569 |
| XifaxanRifaximin | 82 | $261,610 |
| ZenpepLipase/Protease/Amylase | 28 | $255,781 |
| Humira(Cf)Adalimumab | 17 | $135,101 |
| LinzessLinaclotide | 57 | $43,272 |
| VemlidyTenofovir Alafenamide | 20 | $30,771 |
| IbsrelaTenapanor Hcl | 14 | $28,064 |
| Dexlansoprazole DrDexlansoprazole | 54 | $8,810 |
| CholestyramineCholestyramine (With Sugar) | 46 | $7,522 |
| ErythromycinErythromycin Base | 21 | $6,878 |
| Mesalamine | 32 | $6,283 |
| Ursodiol | 31 | $6,177 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson & JohnsonStelara | $599 | $857,75629 claims |
| AbbVieCreon, Humira(Cf), Linzess | $3,321 | $488,942119 claims |
| GileadEpclusa, Vemlidy | $618 | $413,87534 claims |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLCXifaxan | $1,234 | $261,61082 claims |
| Aimmune Therapeutics, Inc.Zenpep | $165 | $255,78128 claims |
| Ardelyx, Inc.Ibsrela | $201 | $28,06414 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 194 gerontology providers in Tennessee.
Other gerontology in Greeneville
- Melanie HoneycuttGreeneville$1K
- David HughesKnoxville$476K
- Melissa RossGermantown$15K
- Erann BulmanKnoxville$13K
- Xiaoxiao ZhangNashville$8K
- Ashley WoodKnoxville$6K
- Erica LudtkeNashville$6K
- Sara ErgerCookeville$5K
- Rachel ClaiborneNashville$4K
- Janell LoweChattanooga$4K
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.