Nitin Nigam, MD
Retina Specialist · West Columbia, SCNPI 1295058790
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 49 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 13 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 22.7% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. That places this record below the midpoint for retina specialist clinicians in SC, where the typical reported total is $2,421.
Across 49 payments — averaging $33.67 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc.$374
- AbbVie$346
- Biotissue Holdings Inc.$236
- Ocular Therapeutix, Inc.$235
- Genentech USA, Inc.$115
- Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc.$92
- plus $251 from 7 others
Across 48 payments — averaging $688.08 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.
- Regeneron$33K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,650100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 6 | $374 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 6 | $346 |
| Biotissue Holdings Inc. | 12 | $236 |
| Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. | 3 | $235 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 6 | $115 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 4 | $92 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 2 | $56 |
| Alimera Sciences, Inc. | 3 | $53 |
| Novartis | 2 | $45 |
| Bausch & Lomb Americas Inc. | 2 | $38 |
| Merz Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $24 |
| Biogen | 1 | $20 |
| Alcon | 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.
How this compares
$1,650 in reported general payments places this provider in the 35th percentile of 20 retina specialist 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Prednisolone Acetate | 160 | $7,921 |
| Atropine Sulfate | 73 | $2,551 |
| Brimonidine Tartrate-TimololBrimonidine Tartrate/Timolol | 14 | $1,553 |
| Brimonidine Tartrate | 13 | $855 |
| Ketorolac Tromethamine | 47 | $736 |
| Ofloxacin | 67 | $633 |
| Acetazolamide ErAcetazolamide | 16 | $271 |
| Latanoprost | 24 | $107 |
| Prednisone | 18 | $95 |
| Timolol Maleate | 13 | $54 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other retina specialist in West Columbia
- Stephen HypesWest Columbia$5K
- Daniel WillWest Columbia$1K
- David JohnsonWest Columbia$851
- Hao TangCharleston$66K
- Carl BakerHilton Head Island$37K
- Adam PflugrathGreenville$13K
- Jeffrey GrossColumbia$7K
- Arman FarrRock Hill$5K
- James HallGreenville$4K
- Robert PrinziLittle River$4K
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.