Sunita Tulachan
Hospitalist · West Columbia, SCNPI 1336592419
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 51 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 ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) at 27.5% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $334 and has fallen 95.5% since, to $15 in 2024. Among hospitalist 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 51 payments — averaging $15.38 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)$216
- Pfizer$133
- Novartis$126
- AbbVie$92
- Johnson & Johnson$79
- Boehringer Ingelheim$74
- plus $65 from 2 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$784100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 17 | $216 |
| Pfizer | 8 | $133 |
| Novartis | 7 | $126 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 6 | $92 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 6 | $79 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 4 | $74 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 2 | $36 |
| Amgen | 1 | $28 |
How this compares
$784 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 398 hospitalist 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 29 | $233 |
| Metoprolol Succinate | 13 | $102 |
| Amoxicillin-Clavulanate PotassAmoxicillin/Potassium Clav | 15 | $55 |
| Furosemide | 17 | $31 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other hospitalist in West Columbia
- Anthony ZamchoWest Columbia$7K
- Troy GambleWest Columbia$2K
- Elizabeth SchmidtWest Columbia$703
- Joseph OgunsulireSeneca$28K
- Erika KingMyrtle Beach$19K
- Woodrow CokerCharleston$14K
- Patrick CawleyCharleston$10K
- Christopher VagnoniAnderson$9K
- John JohnsonSeneca$7K
- Michael WagnerGreenville$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.