Michael Taggart, MD
Ophthalmology · Morganton, NCNPI 1407235294
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 14 payments — averaging $24.10 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Alcon$103
- Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc.$65
- Rayner Intraocular Lenses Limited$62
- Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision, Inc.$34
- Amgen$22
- Bausch & Lomb, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC$18
- plus $35 from 2 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$32095%
- Education$185%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alcon | 5 | $103 |
| Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. | 1 | $65 |
| Rayner Intraocular Lenses Limited | 3 | $62 |
| Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision, Inc. | 1 | $34 |
| Amgen | 1 | $22 |
| Bausch & Lomb, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 1 | $18 |
| Bausch & Lomb Americas Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Novartis | 1 | $17 |
How this compares
$337 in reported general payments places this provider in the 20th percentile of 588 ophthalmology providers in North 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 |
|---|---|---|
| RestasisCyclosporine | 67 | $101,761 |
| Cyclosporine | 17 | $7,302 |
| Prednisolone Acetate | 94 | $4,728 |
| Latanoprost | 162 | $1,355 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 78 | $845 |
| Polymyxin B Sul-TrimethoprimPolymyxin B Sulf/Trimethoprim | 80 | $674 |
| ValacyclovirValacyclovir Hcl | 17 | $636 |
| Timolol Maleate | 59 | $514 |
| Neomycin-Polymyxin-DexamethNeomycin/Polymyxin B/Dexametha | 14 | $209 |
| ErythromycinErythromycin Base | 19 | $196 |
| Dorzolamide-TimololDorzolamide Hcl/Timolol Maleat | 11 | $73 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other ophthalmology in Morganton
- Glenn JaffeDurham$38.5M
- Lejla VajzovicDurham$7.5M
- Andrew AntoszykCharlotte$4M
- Majda HadziahmetovicDurham$2.4M
- Preeya GuptaRaleigh$2M
- Thomas WilliamsHickory$1.8M
- James HarrisHickory$1.4M
- Rajiv ShahWinston Salem$1.3M
- Patrick KeltyHickory$1.1M
- Julie WoodwardDurham$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.