Sam Bazrafshan
Podiatrist · Chattanooga, TNNPI 1417314477
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (52.3%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 29 manufacturers reported payments, led by Alpha Orthopedic Systems at 52.7% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $5,724 and has fallen 94.1% since, to $337 in 2025. Among podiatrist clinicians in TN 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.
Across 190 payments — averaging $85.67 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Alpha Orthopedic Systems$9K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$2K
- Stryker$1K
- Arthrex$1K
- Smith+Nephew$1K
- Medline Industries LP$732
- plus $1K from 23 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$4,29826%
- Food & beverage$3,46121%
- Education$8,51852%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Alpha Orthopedic Systems | 16 | $8,581 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 7 | $2,056 |
| Stryker(2 entities) | 14 | $1,245 |
| Arthrex | 5 | $1,202 |
| Smith+Nephew | 80 | $1,093 |
| Medline Industries LP | 5 | $732 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 9 | $297 |
| Organogenesis Inc. | 11 | $163 |
| Smoky Mountain Surgical LLC | 2 | $150 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 6 | $107 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 7 | $105 |
| Medtronic | 4 | $83 |
| Linvatec Corporation | 2 | $54 |
| Kerecis Limited | 4 | $50 |
| Treace Medical Concepts, Inc. | 1 | $45 |
| Anika Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $41 |
| Triad Life Sciences Inc. | 2 | $39 |
| KCI USA, Inc. | 2 | $36 |
| Medartis Inc. | 1 | $31 |
| DJO, LLC | 1 | $25 |
| Globus Medical | 1 | $21 |
| Averitas Pharma Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $19 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Tenex Health Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Solventum Corporation | 1 | $15 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $14 |
| Merck | 1 | $14 |
| Polymedics Innovations Inc. | 1 | $7 |
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.
- MIS Instrumentation$629
- PROstep$148
- ORTHOLOC 2 LAPIFUSE$131
How this compares
$16,277 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 105 podiatrist providers in Tennessee.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| SantylCollagenase Clostridium Hist. | 15 | $8,847 |
| Gentamicin Sulfate | 75 | $2,924 |
| Ciclopirox | 70 | $2,178 |
| Ammonium Lactate | 62 | $1,609 |
| Clotrimazole-BetamethasoneClotrimazole/Betamethasone Dip | 56 | $1,393 |
| Doxycycline Hyclate | 122 | $1,191 |
| Betamethasone Dipropionate | 21 | $1,024 |
| Mupirocin | 71 | $596 |
| Ondansetron OdtOndansetron | 26 | $333 |
| Cephalexin | 36 | $178 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 38 | $170 |
| Gabapentin | 22 | $166 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 18 | $80 |
| Meloxicam | 11 | $31 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Smith+NephewSantyl | $1,093 | $8,84715 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. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 90th percentile of 105 podiatrist providers in Tennessee.
Other podiatrist in Chattanooga
- David AndersonChattanooga$9K
- Joy RussellChattanooga$4K
- Robert WaltersChattanooga$967
- Tamara MartinChattanooga$580
- Mario DickensChattanooga$394
- Jeffrey LovelandSparta$809K
- Michael KingNashville$190K
- Penninah KumarMt Juliet$72K
- James HarrisTrenton$49K
- Matthew NeuhausSmyrna$33K
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.