Michael Sperling, MD
Internal Medicine · Little River, SCNPI 1326579392
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 260 payments — averaging $16.33 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Novo Nordisk$679
- Amgen$552
- AbbVie$504
- GSK$322
- Pfizer$299
- AstraZeneca$241
- plus $2K from 28 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$4,18198%
- Education$652%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novo Nordisk | 37 | $679 |
| Amgen | 26 | $552 |
| AbbVie | 40 | $504 |
| GSK | 22 | $322 |
| Pfizer | 18 | $299 |
| AstraZeneca | 17 | $241 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 16 | $227 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 11 | $195 |
| Dexcom, Inc. | 7 | $125 |
| Exact Sciences | 7 | $107 |
| Novartis | 7 | $106 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 6 | $103 |
| Bayer | 6 | $94 |
| Abbott | 4 | $90 |
| Sumitomo Pharma America, Inc. | 3 | $81 |
| Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 4 | $75 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 5 | $74 |
| Merck | 5 | $73 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 3 | $38 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 2 | $37 |
| Nevro Corp. | 1 | $19 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 1 | $19 |
| Seqirus USA Inc | 1 | $19 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Hologic Sales And Service, LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Mylan Specialty L.p. | 1 | $16 |
| ITI, Inc. (d/b/a Intra-cellular Therapies, Inc.) | 1 | $14 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. | 1 | $14 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 1 | $14 |
| Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
| Eisai Inc. | 1 | $11 |
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.
- Repatha$150
How this compares
$4,245 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 1,498 internal medicine providers in South Carolina.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| OzempicSemaglutide | 163 | $232,074 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 209 | $215,933 |
| EliquisApixaban | 134 | $155,094 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 136 | $152,931 |
| Repatha SureclickEvolocumab | 71 | $75,389 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 69 | $57,568 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 41 | $57,079 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 39 | $45,492 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 35 | $41,875 |
| RybelsusSemaglutide | 16 | $33,665 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 23 | $31,706 |
| JanumetSitagliptin Phos/Metformin Hcl | 18 | $29,060 |
| VascepaIcosapent Ethyl | 29 | $24,744 |
| Janumet XrSitagliptin Phos/Metformin Hcl | 20 | $19,515 |
| Tresiba Flextouch U-100Insulin Degludec | 36 | $17,331 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| Novo NordiskOzempic, Rybelsus | $679 | $265,738179 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCMounjaro, Trulicity | $103 | $261,425248 claims |
| MerckJanuvia, Janumet, Janumet Xr | $73 | $201,506174 claims |
| PfizerEliquis, Premarin | $299 | $160,218145 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance, Stiolto Respimat | $19 | $65,03656 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta | $322 | $57,56869 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Symbicort | $241 | $53,67083 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $74 | $31,70623 claims |
| AbbVieSynthroid | $504 | $4,25861 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 85th percentile of 1,498 internal medicine providers in South Carolina.
Other internal medicine in Little River
- Marc ComianosLittle River$15K
- Rica SantiagoMt Pleasant$10.7M
- Richard MillsMt Pleasant$5.5M
- Yvonne DavisMount Pleasant$2.4M
- David BolsterSummerville$2.3M
- Colby GrossmanSummerville$1.4M
- Amit ShahIndian Land$1.4M
- Philip NicolMurrells Inlet$782K
- Carl SofleyAnderson$673K
- Carl MitchellColumbia$564K
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.