Steven Lee, MD
Ophthalmology · Saint Louis, MONPI 1134118482
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $28,278 of the $33,067 with a category attached, or 85.5%. It is spread thinly across 41 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 15.7% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Among ophthalmology clinicians in MO 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 629 payments — averaging $52.57 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Alcon$5K
- Johnson & Johnson Surgical Vision, Inc.$5K
- Bausch & Lomb Americas Inc.$4K
- Eyevance Pharmaceuticals LLC$2K
- AbbVie$2K
- Glaukos Corporation$2K
- plus $14K from 35 others
Across 11 payments — averaging $937.03 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.
- Alcon Research LLC$10K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$1,9006%
- Speaking & faculty fees$730%
- Travel & lodging$2,7988%
- Food & beverage$28,27886%
- Gifts$190%
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.
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.
- Flarex$2,120
- Tecnis Symfony IOL$1,982
- Tecnis Multifocal Family of 1-piece IOLS$1,867
- Tecnis 1-piece IOL$1,746
- enVista MX60 IOL$1,388
- IC-8 Apthera IOL$1,269
- STELLARIS ELITE$1,269
- Hydrus Microstent$1,218
- DEXTENZA$948
- RXSIGHT CONTACT LENS$825
- RXSIGHT INJECTOR CARTRIDGE$825
- RXSIGHT INJECTOR HANDPIECE$825
- RXSIGHT LIGHT DELIVERY DEVICE (LDD)$825
- DURYSTA$824
- CEQUA$795
- iStent inject W$603
- Tobradex ST$580
- LIGHT ADJUSTABLE LENS (LAL)$560
- Clareon$537
- Tecnis IOL$497
How this compares
$33,067 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 286 ophthalmology providers in Missouri.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lotemax SmLoteprednol Etabonate | 190 | $48,238 |
| BesivanceBesifloxacin Hcl | 145 | $32,620 |
| ProlensaBromfenac Sodium | 75 | $26,178 |
| Bromfenac Sodium | 60 | $12,223 |
| Prednisolone Acetate | 301 | $7,519 |
| Ketorolac Tromethamine | 331 | $6,822 |
| Ofloxacin | 233 | $2,300 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Bausch & Lomb, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLCLotemax Sm, Besivance, Prolensa | $1,493 | $107,036410 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 286 ophthalmology providers in Missouri.
Other ophthalmology in Saint Louis
- Ranjan MalhotraSaint Louis$809K
- Gregg BerdySaint Louis$360K
- Rajendra ApteSaint Louis$112K
- Ian PithaSaint Louis$85K
- Senthil KrishnasamySaint Louis$46K
- Navin TekwaniSaint Louis$34K
- John GalanisSaint Louis$20K
- Bruce CohenSaint Louis$11K
- Waseem AnsariSaint Louis$9K
- Sean EdelsteinSaint Louis$9K
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.