Shahab Akhter, MD
Surgery · Greenville, NCNPI 1114998044
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 12 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 8 manufacturers reported payments, led by Elutia, Inc. at 42.8% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $249 and has fallen 73.7% since, to $65 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for surgery clinicians in NC, where the typical reported total is $1,719.
Across 12 payments — averaging $38.40 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Elutia, Inc.$197
- Abbott$88
- Medtronic$53
- Bolton Medical Inc$47
- Atricure, Inc.$31
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$19
- plus $26 from 2 others
Across 23 payments — averaging $7058.56 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$162K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$461100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Elutia, Inc. | 3 | $197 |
| Abbott | 2 | $88 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $53 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 1 | $47 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 1 | $31 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 2 | $19 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Cumberland Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $12 |
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.
- ECM Patch,Pouch$161
How this compares
$461 in reported general payments places this provider in the 30th percentile of 970 surgery 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 16 | $69 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgery in Greenville
- Walter BoydGreenville$311K
- Eric DemariaGreenville$68K
- Dustin BaldwinGreenville$44K
- Robert FanelliGreenville$37K
- Brant HenifordCharlotte$831K
- Vedra AugensteinCharlotte$789K
- John MartinieCharlotte$712K
- Dana PortenierDurham$702K
- Paul EnochsCary$595K
- David IannittiCharlotte$360K
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.