Sarah Ford-Sightler
Acute Care · Columbia, SCNPI 1396983987
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 97.5% of the total across 268 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 30 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 15.8% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Among acute care clinicians in SC 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 268 payments — averaging $20.70 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AstraZeneca$878
- Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.$660
- Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc.$644
- Travere Therapeutics, Inc.$421
- Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.$421
- Amgen$348
- plus $2K from 24 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$5,41198%
- Education$1372%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZeneca(2 entities) | 38 | $878 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 31 | $660 |
| Calliditas Therapeutics US Inc. | 27 | $644 |
| Travere Therapeutics, Inc. | 19 | $421 |
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc. | 24 | $421 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 18 | $348 |
| Bayer | 21 | $335 |
| Aurinia Pharma U.S., Inc. | 11 | $240 |
| Akebia Therapeutics Inc | 8 | $227 |
| GSK | 12 | $206 |
| Vifor Pharma, Inc. | 10 | $164 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 7 | $149 |
| OPKO Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 8 | $137 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 5 | $114 |
| Novo Nordisk | 4 | $95 |
| Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $79 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 3 | $72 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 4 | $63 |
| Renalytix AI, Inc. | 2 | $41 |
| Recordati_rare_diseases_inc. | 2 | $38 |
| Kyowa Kirin, Inc. | 2 | $33 |
| Recor Medical Inc | 1 | $31 |
| Veloxis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Novartis | 1 | $24 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 1 | $19 |
| Sanofi | 1 | $17 |
| Pharmacosmos Therapeutics Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Scpharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Mannkind Corporation | 1 | $15 |
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
$5,548 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 339 acute care 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 |
|---|---|---|
| VelphoroSucroferric Oxyhydroxide | 40 | $99,891 |
| Sevelamer Carbonate | 29 | $4,473 |
| Calcium Acetate | 12 | $628 |
| Hydralazine Hcl | 26 | $602 |
| Calcitriol | 45 | $276 |
| Losartan Potassium | 32 | $203 |
| Midodrine Hcl | 13 | $203 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 14 | $192 |
| Allopurinol | 12 | $185 |
| Carvedilol | 21 | $155 |
| Furosemide | 32 | $122 |
| Amlodipine Besylate | 21 | $88 |
| Gabapentin | 12 | $64 |
| Spironolactone | 11 | $45 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 14 | $44 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Fresenius USA Marketing, Inc.Velphoro | $421 | $99,89140 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 339 acute care providers in South Carolina.
Other acute care in Columbia
- Michael GajewskiColumbia$62K
- Micheal BungerColumbia$15K
- Robin TrauflerColumbia$12K
- Linda VanduysColumbia$7K
- Aziz PetiwalaColumbia$7K
- Christina AdkinsColumbia$6K
- Brandon PalmerColumbia$6K
- Jessica WheelerColumbia$6K
- Stacy SandersColumbia$6K
- Jazmine PorterfieldColumbia$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.