Melanie Palm, MD
Dermatology · Solana Beach, CANPI 1821265877
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $336,615 of the $519,969 with a category attached, or 64.7%. Galderma Laboratories, L.p. accounts for 62.4% of it on its own, with 14 other manufacturers making up the rest. Among dermatology clinicians in CA 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 480 payments — averaging $1083.27 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Galderma Laboratories, L.p.$324K
- AbbVie$122K
- Merz North America, Inc.$44K
- Lumenis Ltd.$25K
- Lumenis, Inc$3K
- Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.$461
- plus $1K from 9 others
Across 249 payments — averaging $6631.55 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- AbbVie$1.3M
- Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.$205K
- Merz North America, Inc.$188K
- Galderma Laboratories, L.p.$4K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$336,61565%
- Speaking & faculty fees$152,11629%
- Travel & lodging$20,2554%
- Food & beverage$10,9412%
- Education$420%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Galderma Laboratories, L.p. | 220 | $324,328 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 100 | $121,533 |
| Merz North America, Inc. | 78 | $44,498 |
| Lumenis Ltd. | 1 | $25,000 |
| Lumenis, Inc | 1 | $3,000 |
| Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 6 | $461 |
| Ortho Dermatologics, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 36 | $410 |
| LEO Pharma Inc. | 10 | $213 |
| Almirall LLC | 8 | $149 |
| Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. | 10 | $125 |
| Sanofi | 1 | $100 |
| Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. | 5 | $86 |
| Prugen, Inc. Pharmaceuticals | 2 | $32 |
| Biofrontera Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| VYNE Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $14 |
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.
- Lumenis Pulse 120H$28,000
- XEOMIN$20,869
- BOTOX COSMETIC$6,350
- BOTOX$5,696
- ASCLERA$200
- DYSPORT$140
How this compares
$519,969 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 1,875 dermatology providers in California.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Imiquimod | 30 | $1,116 |
| ValacyclovirValacyclovir Hcl | 29 | $783 |
| Doxycycline Hyclate | 32 | $582 |
| Mometasone Furoate | 15 | $256 |
| Ketoconazole | 11 | $115 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other dermatology in Solana Beach
- Paul YamauchiSanta Monica$2.9M
- Jennifer SoungSanta Ana$2.8M
- Robert GreenbergLivermore$2.6M
- Neal BhatiaSan Diego$2.5M
- April ArmstrongLos Angeles$2.3M
- Jeffrey CrowleyBakersfield$2.1M
- Jashin WuCorona$2M
- Raja SivamaniSacramento$1.9M
- Tien NguyenFountain Valley$1.2M
- Tina BhutaniSan Francisco$1.1M
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.