Lee Akst, MD
Otolaryngology · Baltimore, MDNPI 1508840299
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $8,875 of the $9,591 with a category attached, or 92.5%. 8 manufacturers reported payments, led by GSK at 58.4% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $4,074, 2.3 times the $1,794 reported in 2019. Among otolaryngology clinicians in MD 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 12 payments — averaging $799.27 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- GSK$6K
- Merck$2K
- Olympus Corporation$1K
- Intuitive Surgical$352
- Covidien LP$155
- Integra Lifesciences Corporation$123
- plus $87 from 2 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$8,87593%
- Food & beverage$7167%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| GSK | 3 | $5,600 |
| Merck | 1 | $2,000 |
| Olympus Corporation | 2 | $1,275 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 1 | $352 |
| Covidien LP | 2 | $155 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 1 | $123 |
| Olympus America Inc. | 1 | $74 |
| Smith+Nephew | 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.
- Da Vinci Surgical System$352
- INTEGRA$123
- CODMAN ISOCOOL AHT$123
- MICROFRANCE$123
- INSTRUMENTS-ORTHOPEDIC$123
- INTEGRA DUO$123
- ManoScan$114
How this compares
$9,591 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 222 otolaryngology providers in Maryland.
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.
Other otolaryngology in Baltimore
- Marc DubinBaltimore$350K
- Patrick HaBaltimore$41K
- Andrew LaneBaltimore$34K
- Jean KimBaltimore$29K
- Nicholas RowanBaltimore$25K
- Rodney TaylorBaltimore$18K
- Kyle HattenBaltimore$12K
- Alexander HillelBaltimore$11K
- Carole FakhryBaltimore$11K
- Frank LinBaltimore$10K
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.