Natalie Cauthen, MD
Infectious Disease · West Columbia, SCNPI 1124095658
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 97.4% of the total across 25 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 11 manufacturers reported payments, led by Insmed, Inc. at 37.7% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $279 and has fallen 60.0% since, to $112 in 2023. That places this record below the midpoint for infectious disease clinicians in SC, where the typical reported total is $781.
Across 25 payments — averaging $28.23 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Insmed, Inc.$266
- Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc.$124
- Merck$74
- Melinta Therapeutics, LLC$68
- Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$43
- Gilead$35
- plus $97 from 5 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$68797%
- Education$193%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Insmed, Inc. | 7 | $266 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 1 | $124 |
| Merck | 5 | $74 |
| Melinta Therapeutics, LLC | 2 | $68 |
| Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $43 |
| Gilead | 1 | $35 |
| GSK | 2 | $33 |
| Theratechnologies Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 1 | $16 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Avanir Pharmaceuticals, 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.
How this compares
$706 in reported general payments places this provider in the 45th percentile of 102 infectious disease 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Daptomycin | 11 | $20,511 |
| ErtapenemErtapenem Sodium | 21 | $10,052 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other infectious disease in West Columbia
- Emilio Perez JorgeWest Columbia$3K
- Elizabeth NimmichWest Columbia$2K
- Samantha WilliamsWest Columbia$919
- Rebecca BerdelWest Columbia$668
- Timothy HenkelHilton Head Island$1.8M
- Toby FugateCharleston$136K
- John McKinnonCharleston$85K
- John SchrankGreenville$74K
- Rishika MotianiFlorence$43K
- John GnannCharleston$39K
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.