Lucas McElwain, MD
Internal Medicine · Birmingham, ALNPI 1952698433
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 99 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 24 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 11.7% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. 2025 is the largest year on record at $1,794, more than ten times the $16 reported in 2022.
Across 99 payments — averaging $21.49 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc$249
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$217
- Lilly USA, LLC$213
- AstraZeneca$197
- SK Life Science, Inc.$194
- UCB, Inc.$190
- plus $866 from 18 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$2,127100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc | 10 | $249 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 9 | $217 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 13 | $213 |
| AstraZeneca | 7 | $197 |
| SK Life Science, Inc. | 7 | $194 |
| UCB, Inc. | 12 | $190 |
| Argenx US, Inc. | 8 | $183 |
| Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 5 | $112 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 5 | $98 |
| EMD Serono, Inc. | 4 | $66 |
| Eisai Inc. | 3 | $61 |
| TG Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $54 |
| Tanabe Pharma America, Inc. | 2 | $43 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 2 | $33 |
| Merz Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $29 |
| Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $27 |
| Biogen | 1 | $27 |
| Springworks Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Novartis | 1 | $16 |
| Resmed Corp | 1 | $15 |
| Neurelis, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
How this compares
$2,127 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 1,533 internal medicine providers in Alabama.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Donepezil Hcl | 61 | $572 |
| Memantine Hcl | 12 | $392 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other internal medicine in Birmingham
- Ryan WeldonBirmingham$458K
- Robert LewisBirmingham$187K
- Thomas HuddleBirmingham$76K
- Jose VargasBirmingham$49K
- Donna FicoBirmingham$46K
- James SullivanBirmingham$39K
- Ross SchumacherBirmingham$26K
- Larry AlfordBirmingham$25K
- David WynneBirmingham$22K
- James CrenshawBirmingham$16K
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.