Steve Vacalis, DO
Family Medicine · Gastonia, NCNPI 1871580399
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 950 payments — averaging $729.03 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Novo Nordisk$414K
- AbbVie$131K
- Johnson & Johnson$85K
- Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$22K
- Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd.$14K
- Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC$9K
- plus $18K from 23 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$86,34612%
- Speaking & faculty fees$535,56977%
- Travel & lodging$53,7008%
- Food & beverage$16,9572%
- Education$110%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novo Nordisk | 453 | $413,645 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 176 | $131,438 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 126 | $84,786 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 46 | $21,693 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. | 23 | $13,805 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 24 | $9,115 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 11 | $6,277 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 6 | $3,720 |
| Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 6 | $3,054 |
| Abbott | 9 | $2,045 |
| Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC | 2 | $1,373 |
| Pfizer | 32 | $504 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $249 |
| Forte Bio-pharma LLC | 6 | $212 |
| Exact Sciences | 1 | $113 |
| Viiv Healthcare Company | 6 | $96 |
| Antares Pharma, Inc. | 4 | $90 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 1 | $74 |
| SPR Therapeutics, Inc | 1 | $48 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 3 | $45 |
| Dexcom, Inc. | 2 | $37 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 2 | $34 |
| GSK | 2 | $33 |
| Halozyme Inc | 1 | $24 |
| Verity Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Cequr Corporation | 1 | $17 |
| Duchesnay USA Incorporated | 1 | $17 |
| Merck | 1 | $12 |
| AstraZeneca | 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.
- RYBELSUS$175,810
- Ozempic$145,150
- UBRELVY$118,765
- INVOKANA$67,636
- NURTEC ODT$34,135
- QULIPTA$32,285
- Victoza$26,800
- XARELTO$13,948
- RELISTOR$8,671
- LUCEMYRA$8,541
- Tresiba$7,481
- Seglentis$3,603
- GVOKE PFS$2,823
- SPRAVATO$1,950
- Morphabond ER$1,859
- Afinion 2$1,750
- NUZYRA$249
- FREESTYLE LIBRE 3$145
- Cologuard Collection Kit$113
How this compares
$692,582 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 3,444 family 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 |
|---|---|---|
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 123 | $156,042 |
| OzempicSemaglutide | 73 | $133,488 |
| TrulicityDulaglutide | 44 | $78,269 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 59 | $75,877 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 62 | $62,059 |
| JanuviaSitagliptin Phosphate | 74 | $60,539 |
| EliquisApixaban | 46 | $48,613 |
| RybelsusSemaglutide | 29 | $43,001 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 46 | $35,796 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 26 | $35,409 |
| Breztri AerosphereBudesonide/Glycopyr/Formoterol | 23 | $19,512 |
| LinzessLinaclotide | 22 | $19,440 |
| Tresiba Flextouch U-200Insulin Degludec | 30 | $17,672 |
| InvokanaCanagliflozin | 14 | $13,376 |
| Tresiba Flextouch U-100Insulin Degludec | 19 | $8,921 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Breztri Aerosphere, Symbicort | $12 | $179,837165 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic, Rybelsus | $413,645 | $176,489102 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCTrulicity, Mounjaro | $34 | $113,67870 claims |
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto, Invokana | $84,786 | $75,43576 claims |
| MerckJanuvia | $12 | $60,53974 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $504 | $48,61346 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Breo Ellipta | $33 | $42,21462 claims |
| AbbVieLinzess, Synthroid | $131,438 | $20,83452 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 95th percentile of 3,444 family medicine providers in North Carolina.
Other family medicine in Gastonia
- Barton WilliamsWilmington$17.3M
- Alexander MurrayGreensboro$13M
- Arin PiramzadianJacksonville$13M
- Jonathan WilsonHickory$12.7M
- George RaadCharlotte$7.7M
- Cecil FarringtonSalisbury$6.4M
- Christian MartinShelby$5.4M
- John EarlHickory$4.7M
- Patrick MorganteHavelock$4.6M
- Stephen JonesShelby$4.5M
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.