Merlin Brown, MD
Internal Medicine · Edina, MNNPI 1053317354
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $13,805 of the $16,091 with a category attached, or 85.8%. AbbVie accounts for 86.2% of it on its own, with 5 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $12,720 and has fallen 99.3% since, to $94 in 2023. Among internal medicine clinicians in MN 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 34 payments — averaging $473.27 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$14K
- Merz North America, Inc.$2K
- Daiichi Sankyo Inc.$37
- Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc.$36
- Amgen$15
- Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc.$1
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$13,80586%
- Food & beverage$2,28514%
- Education$10%
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) | 9 | $13,878 |
| Merz North America, Inc. | 19 | $2,125 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 2 | $37 |
| Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc. | 2 | $36 |
| Amgen | 1 | $15 |
| Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc. | 1 | $1 |
How this compares
$16,091 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 1,924 internal medicine providers in Minnesota.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 47 | $50,111 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 27 | $28,311 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 12 | $14,361 |
| Breo ElliptaFluticasone/Vilanterol | 14 | $8,781 |
| Budesonide-Formoterol FumarateBudesonide/Formoterol Fumarate | 15 | $5,110 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 214 | $3,277 |
| Butalbital-Acetaminophen-CaffeButalb/Acetaminophen/Caffeine | 15 | $2,336 |
| Levothyroxine Sodium | 132 | $2,185 |
| Losartan Potassium | 108 | $2,100 |
| Sumatriptan Succinate | 12 | $2,092 |
| Lisinopril | 171 | $2,051 |
| Omeprazole | 119 | $1,997 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 21 | $1,790 |
| Tamsulosin Hcl | 78 | $1,642 |
| Lantus SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 18 | $1,624 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other internal medicine in Edina
- Gregory PolandRochester$494K
- Thomas MartensBrooklyn Center$158K
- Roy ChoMinneapolis$122K
- Kamran AfzalFridley$69K
- Ekta KapoorRochester$55K
- Luke SeaburgRochester$55K
- Robert PignoloRochester$52K
- Jaskanwal Deep SaraSaint Paul$50K
- Mustafa ArainMinneapolis$44K
- Noah WillifordMinneapolis$42K
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.