Lester Salwen
Geriatric Medicine · Greenville, SCNPI 1205875952
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 99.8% of the total across 117 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 17 manufacturers reported payments, led by AbbVie at 41.5% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $1,950 and has fallen 95.5% since, to $88 in 2023. Among geriatric medicine 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 117 payments — averaging $25.23 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$1K
- Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC$448
- Pfizer$379
- UCB, Inc.$207
- Merck$124
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$114
- plus $456 from 11 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$2,944100%
- Education$70%
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) | 43 | $1,224 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 17 | $448 |
| Pfizer | 15 | $379 |
| UCB, Inc. | 8 | $207 |
| Merck | 2 | $124 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 1 | $114 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 11 | $106 |
| Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC | 1 | $99 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 6 | $80 |
| Shionogi Inc | 5 | $66 |
| QOL Medical, LLC | 2 | $26 |
| Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Gilead | 1 | $13 |
| Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $12 |
| Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, Inc | 1 | $12 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 1 | $11 |
| Romark Laboratories, LC | 1 | $10 |
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
$2,951 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 41 geriatric medicine providers in South Carolina.
Other geriatric medicine in Greenville
- Fariha SultanGreenville$6K
- Barto KellettGreenville$664
- Michelle CrouseGreenville$610
- Laurie Theriot RoleyGreenville$484
- Melissa BaileyGreenville$331
- Richard ShermanGreenville$193
- Michelle NoblesGreenville$45
- Sarah WhiteheadGreenville$38
- John KleckleyColumbia$19K
- Joseph GarandPiedmont$4K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.