Susan Buchbinder
Internal Medicine · San Francisco, CANPI 1629183066
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (54.2%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Merck accounts for 90.0% of it on its own, with 1 other manufacturer making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $3,564, 8.3 times the $429 reported in 2019. Among internal medicine clinicians in CA 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 19 payments — averaging $224.88 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Merck$4K
- Gilead$429
Across 70 payments — averaging $6519.63 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.
- Merck$343K
- GSK$66K
- Gilead$48K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$2,31854%
- Travel & lodging$1,38933%
- Food & beverage$56613%
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.
How this compares
$4,273 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 13,581 internal medicine providers in California.
Other internal medicine in San Francisco
- Fred CohenSan Francisco$929K
- John TeerlinkSan Francisco$819K
- Mark SmithSan Francisco$535K
- Lisa CapaldiniSan Francisco$434K
- Maria Dall'eraSan Francisco$417K
- Kenneth ColleySan Francisco$397K
- Louis CubbaSan Francisco$351K
- Daniel ButlerSan Francisco$347K
- Laurence CorashSan Francisco$336K
- Felicia StermanSan Francisco$298K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.