Has Robert Balk, MD received payments from drug or device companies?

Yes. Drug and device makers reported $46,760 in general payments to Robert Balk, MD across 31 transactions between 2019–2025. Most Open Payments records nationally are meals worth under $20; a reported payment is not evidence of wrongdoing.

Does a payment mean Robert Balk, MD did something wrong?

No. Federal law requires drug and device makers to report almost every transfer of value to a physician, including a $14 sandwich at a lunch presentation. Consulting fees, research funding and royalties to device inventors are ordinary, legal parts of medicine. This site reports what was disclosed; it makes no allegation.

Where does this information about Robert Balk, MD come from?

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Payments come from Open Payments, published under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. Billing and prescribing figures come from the Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners and Part D Prescriber public use files for 2024.

Robert Balk, MD

Pulmonary Disease · Chicago, ILNPI 1134173503

Payments from drug & device makers

What this record shows

This record is dominated by speaking fees: $29,350 of the $46,760 with a category attached, or 62.8%. 7 manufacturers reported payments, led by Dompe US, Inc. at 39.8% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $18,633 and has fallen 94.6% since, to $1,000 in 2025. Among pulmonary disease clinicians in IL with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.

$46,760in general payments, 2019–2025

Across 31 payments — averaging $1508.38 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.

Dompe US, Inc.$19K
Biomerieux Inc$12K
Merck$10K
Roche Diagnostics Corporation$3K
Roche Molecular Systems, Inc.$3K
Astrazeneca UK Limited$1K
plus $33 from 1 others

$564in research payments, 2019–2025

Across 2 payments — averaging $281.92 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.

Ferring International Pharmascience Center US$511
Insmed, Inc.$53

What the payments were for

Consulting fees$15,35033%
Speaking & faculty fees$29,35063%
Travel & lodging$1,7144%
Food & beverage$3131%
Education$330%

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
Dompe US, Inc.	6	$18,600
Biomerieux Inc	6	$11,562
Merck	13	$10,279
Roche Diagnostics Corporation	1	$2,750
Roche Molecular Systems, Inc.	3	$2,536
Astrazeneca UK Limited	1	$1,000
Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	1	$33

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.

VIDAS BRAHMS PCT$11,562
POC cobas Liat Analyzer, Assays, Controls and Accessories$2,750
MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT$2,500

How this compares

$46,760 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 539 pulmonary disease providers in Illinois.

See all pulmonary disease providers in Illinois →

Medicare billing

Part B allowed, 2024

$75,555

Medicare patients

264

Services billed

747

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
Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter	197	$157,580
Dupixent SyringeDupilumab	11	$42,089
Spiriva HandihalerTiotropium Bromide	30	$30,741
Anoro ElliptaUmeclidinium Brm/Vilanterol Tr	40	$28,126
Breztri AerosphereBudesonide/Glycopyr/Formoterol	33	$27,001
Breo ElliptaFluticasone/Vilanterol	36	$24,007
Incruse ElliptaUmeclidinium Bromide	43	$21,133
Stiolto RespimatTiotropium Br/Olodaterol Hcl	24	$18,145
Spiriva RespimatTiotropium Bromide	26	$17,481
SymbicortBudesonide/Formoterol Fumarate	46	$12,149
Budesonide-Formoterol FumarateBudesonide/Formoterol Fumarate	29	$8,769
Albuterol Sulfate HfaAlbuterol Sulfate	169	$5,620
Fluticasone-SalmeterolFluticasone Propion/Salmeterol	20	$4,523
Ventolin HfaAlbuterol Sulfate	40	$3,498
Tiotropium Bromide	12	$3,227

Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.

Other pulmonary disease in Chicago

Douglas HogarthChicago$2.9M
Steven WhiteChicago$970K
Momen WahidiChicago$779K
Septimiu MurguChicago$633K
Ayodeji AdegunsoyeChicago$561K
Ravi KalhanChicago$375K
Brian GaribaldiChicago$356K
Manu JainChicago$187K
Richard WunderinkChicago$178K
Rade TomicChicago$70K

See the full list for Illinois →

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.

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