Santosh Gopalakrishnan, MD
Internal Medicine · Charlotte, NCNPI 1205853991
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 10 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 5 manufacturers reported payments, led by Abbott at 36.8% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $121 and has fallen 79.3% since, to $25 in 2023.
Across 10 payments — averaging $29.51 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$108
- Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc.$80
- Electromed, Inc.$66
- Axsome Therapeutics, Inc.$25
- Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.$16
Across 123 payments — averaging $4863.25 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.
- AbbVie$480K
- Eisai Inc.$118K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$295100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 1 | $108 |
| Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. | 1 | $80 |
| Electromed, Inc. | 6 | $66 |
| Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
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.
- PROCLAIM$108
How this compares
$295 in reported general payments places this provider in the 55th percentile of 3,302 internal medicine providers in North 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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 15 | $17,624 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 15 | $9,208 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 52 | $400 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 44 | $372 |
| Losartan Potassium | 13 | $307 |
| Omeprazole | 12 | $242 |
| Metformin Hcl ErMetformin Hcl | 13 | $234 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 24 | $233 |
| Doxycycline Hyclate | 36 | $219 |
| Lisinopril | 37 | $198 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 25 | $162 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 29 | $161 |
| Zolpidem Tartrate | 14 | $153 |
| Metformin Hcl | 23 | $149 |
| Furosemide | 29 | $98 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other internal medicine in Charlotte
- Saad UsmaniCharlotte$551K
- Marc JohnsonCharlotte$342K
- Maithili ChitnavisCharlotte$267K
- Jonathan SchwartzCharlotte$193K
- Perry RoyCharlotte$135K
- Benjamin BrooksCharlotte$91K
- Mark SchwartzCharlotte$80K
- Thomas WalshCharlotte$64K
- Lisa BellanfonteCharlotte$45K
- Nirmish ShahDurham$862K
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.