Scott Friedstrom, MD
Infectious Disease · Cincinnati, OHNPI 1679538698
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $12,300 of the $14,758 with a category attached, or 83.3%. AbbVie accounts for 87.6% of it on its own, with 13 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $6,090 and has fallen 98.9% since, to $69 in 2025. Among infectious disease clinicians in OH 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 142 payments — averaging $103.93 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AbbVie$13K
- Viiv Healthcare Company$461
- Gilead$391
- Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$177
- Merck$151
- Bioventus LLC$141
- plus $513 from 8 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$12,30083%
- Food & beverage$2,38616%
- Education$720%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 55 | $12,923 |
| Viiv Healthcare Company | 28 | $461 |
| Gilead | 23 | $391 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 8 | $177 |
| Merck | 8 | $151 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $141 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $129 |
| Insmed, Inc. | 5 | $104 |
| Melinta Therapeutics, LLC | 5 | $95 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 1 | $72 |
| Pfizer | 3 | $40 |
| Aimmune Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $39 |
| La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company | 1 | $20 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $14 |
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
$14,758 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 308 infectious disease providers in Ohio.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| BiktarvyBictegrav/Emtricit/Tenofov Ala | 48 | $184,426 |
| Daptomycin | 42 | $29,213 |
| ErtapenemErtapenem Sodium | 22 | $12,433 |
| Cefepime Hcl | 27 | $8,361 |
| Ampicillin-SulbactamAmpicillin Sod/Sulbactam Sod | 40 | $7,493 |
| Meropenem | 29 | $4,364 |
| Ritonavir | 11 | $3,065 |
| Amoxicillin-Clavulanate PotassAmoxicillin/Potassium Clav | 51 | $2,865 |
| Methenamine Hippurate | 64 | $2,609 |
| CeftriaxoneCeftriaxone Sodium | 39 | $2,314 |
| Piperacillin-TazobactamPiperacillin Sodium/Tazobactam | 14 | $2,228 |
| Vancomycin Hcl | 11 | $1,722 |
| Doxycycline Hyclate | 63 | $1,023 |
| Estradiol | 15 | $999 |
| Cephalexin | 70 | $882 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| GileadBiktarvy | $391 | $184,42648 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 308 infectious disease providers in Ohio.
Other infectious disease in Cincinnati
- Judith FeinbergCincinnati$51K
- John CafardiCincinnati$35K
- Silvania NgCincinnati$33K
- Carl FichtenbaumCincinnati$12K
- Senu ApewokinCincinnati$11K
- Joseph KlingenCincinnati$7K
- Francisco Fernandez-GonzalezCincinnati$7K
- Richard GoodmanCincinnati$4K
- Steven BurdetteDayton$322K
- Nathaniel RatnasamyFindlay$255K
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.