Rachel Epstein, MD
Cornea and External Diseases Specialist · Highland Park, ILNPI 1164863353
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $4,499 of the $6,409 with a category attached, or 70.2%. 26 manufacturers reported payments, led by Alcon at 34.6% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $2,031 and has fallen 62.1% since, to $770 in 2025.
Across 110 payments — averaging $58.27 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Alcon$2K
- Recordati_rare_diseases_inc.$1000
- Dompe US, Inc.$498
- Glaukos Corporation$442
- Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc.$400
- Harrow Eye, LLC$244
- plus $2K from 20 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$4006%
- Travel & lodging$1,51024%
- Food & beverage$4,49970%
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 | 23 | $2,217 |
| Recordati_rare_diseases_inc. | 2 | $1,000 |
| Dompe US, Inc. | 5 | $498 |
| Glaukos Corporation | 5 | $442 |
| Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. | 1 | $400 |
| Harrow Eye, LLC | 10 | $244 |
| Novartis | 13 | $231 |
| Staar Surgical Company | 3 | $209 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 9 | $198 |
| Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. | 2 | $163 |
| Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. | 6 | $115 |
| Biotissue Holdings Inc. | 4 | $112 |
| The Cameron-ehlen Group, Inc. | 2 | $97 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 4 | $77 |
| Eyevance Pharmaceuticals LLC | 5 | $75 |
| Aerie Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $55 |
| Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $49 |
| Bausch & Lomb Americas Inc. | 2 | $45 |
| Kala Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $29 |
| Quidel Corporation | 1 | $29 |
| Rxsight Inc | 1 | $26 |
| Hologic Sales And Service, LLC | 1 | $23 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 1 | $23 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| NEW World Medical,inc. | 1 | $17 |
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.
- Oxervate$472
- CT Lucia$400
- Cataract Suite$400
- LUMERA$400
- Centurion$254
- iDoseTR$203
- iStent Infinite$203
- Clareon$186
- Photrexa Viscous and Photrexa$147
- BROMSITE$142
- CEQUA$142
- XELPROS$142
- AcrySof IQ PanOptix UV IOL$132
- AcrySof$116
- SIMBRINZA$115
- Rocklatan$115
- Rhopressa$115
How this compares
Too few cornea and external diseases specialist providers in Illinoisto place this figure against a meaningful peer group, so we don't.
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 | 25 | $20,658 |
| Prednisolone Acetate | 105 | $3,653 |
| Timolol Maleate | 34 | $1,755 |
| FlarexFluorometholone Acetate | 14 | $1,738 |
| Brimonidine Tartrate | 23 | $1,269 |
| Fluorometholone | 16 | $1,254 |
| ValacyclovirValacyclovir Hcl | 31 | $902 |
| Ketorolac Tromethamine | 31 | $726 |
| Ofloxacin | 31 | $320 |
| Doxycycline Hyclate | 12 | $180 |
| Latanoprost | 29 | $119 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVieRestasis | $77 | $20,65825 claims |
| Eyevance Pharmaceuticals LLCFlarex | $75 | $1,73814 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. There are too few cornea and external diseases specialist providers in Illinoison file to place this against a meaningful peer group, so we don't.
Other cornea and external diseases specialist in Highland Park
- Charles BouchardMaywood$4K
- Harold SyChicago$4K
- Carter KirkRiver Forest$4K
- Emily JacobsStickney$3K
- Nahrain SchumaierChicago$3K
- Andrea Arteaga UsecheChicago$2K
- Kai KangWheaton$1K
- Anna ParkWheaton$934
- Jennifer ParkChicago$881
- Janet LeeWheaton$653
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.