Varun Shah
Pulmonary Disease · Knoxville, TNNPI 1538573480
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (33.4%), consulting fees and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 35 manufacturers reported payments, led by Intuitive Surgical at 55.0% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $24,250, more than ten times the $484 reported in 2019. Among pulmonary disease clinicians in TN 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 430 payments — averaging $148.31 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$35K
- Pulmonx Corporation$21K
- AstraZeneca$2K
- Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc.$1K
- GSK$797
- Amgen$745
- plus $4K from 29 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$16,00025%
- Speaking & faculty fees$12,00019%
- Travel & lodging$21,30033%
- Food & beverage$12,58620%
- Education$1,7503%
- Gifts$1370%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Intuitive Surgical | 159 | $35,080 |
| Pulmonx Corporation | 54 | $20,526 |
| AstraZeneca | 45 | $1,693 |
| Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc. | 3 | $1,212 |
| GSK | 45 | $797 |
| Amgen | 16 | $745 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 17 | $503 |
| Mylan Specialty L.p. | 6 | $414 |
| Galvanize Therapeutics, Inc | 4 | $381 |
| Insmed, Inc. | 9 | $259 |
| Sanofi | 10 | $231 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 9 | $187 |
| Medtronic | 2 | $183 |
| Serpex Medical Inc | 1 | $172 |
| Grifols USA, LLC | 7 | $158 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 4 | $124 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 6 | $109 |
| UCB, Inc. | 1 | $100 |
| Fujifilm Healthcare Americas Corporation | 1 | $95 |
| Merck | 3 | $94 |
| Verona Pharma, Inc. | 4 | $90 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 3 | $77 |
| Merit Medical Systems Inc | 1 | $77 |
| Viatris Specialty LLC | 2 | $76 |
| Olympus America Inc. | 2 | $62 |
| Philips North America LLC | 3 | $50 |
| United Therapeutics Corporation | 2 | $48 |
| La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company | 2 | $45 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 2 | $40 |
| Inogen, Inc. | 2 | $36 |
| Mallinckrodt Hospital Products Inc. | 1 | $28 |
| CMP Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $27 |
| ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Shionogi Inc | 1 | $20 |
| Electromed, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
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.
- ZEPHYR ENDOBRONCHIAL VALVE$19,520
- Da Vinci Surgical System$19,327
- CHARTIS CATHETER$12,917
- ZEPHYR DELIVERY CATHETER$12,917
- PULMONX CHARTIS TABLET CONSOLE$12,917
- DA VINCI SP$12,300
- TEZSPIRE$959
- Yupelri$367
- ALIYA SYSTEM$355
- ILLUMISITE$139
- FASENRA$125
- NUCALA$121
How this compares
$63,773 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 339 pulmonary disease providers in Tennessee.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Spiriva RespimatTiotropium Bromide | 79 | $60,761 |
| Stiolto RespimatTiotropium Br/Olodaterol Hcl | 93 | $53,959 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 60 | $46,183 |
| Breztri AerosphereBudesonide/Glycopyr/Formoterol | 44 | $32,154 |
| Anoro ElliptaUmeclidinium Brm/Vilanterol Tr | 39 | $17,589 |
| Albuterol Sulfate HfaAlbuterol Sulfate | 101 | $3,004 |
| Ventolin HfaAlbuterol Sulfate | 15 | $1,009 |
| Levalbuterol Tartrate HfaLevalbuterol Tartrate | 11 | $584 |
| Amoxicillin-Clavulanate PotassAmoxicillin/Potassium Clav | 22 | $299 |
| Prednisone | 34 | $110 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 16 | $107 |
| Levofloxacin | 13 | $48 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boehringer IngelheimSpiriva Respimat, Stiolto Respimat | $503 | $114,720172 claims |
| GSKTrelegy Ellipta, Anoro Ellipta | $797 | $63,77399 claims |
| AstraZenecaBreztri Aerosphere | $1,693 | $32,15444 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 339 pulmonary disease providers in Tennessee.
Other pulmonary disease in Knoxville
- John SwisherKnoxville$234K
- John PrinceKnoxville$117K
- Rajiv DhandKnoxville$96K
- Benjamin BevillKnoxville$31K
- Shannon ByrdKnoxville$23K
- James PharaohKnoxville$20K
- Isaac BineyKnoxville$16K
- Lisa LancasterNashville$519K
- Krishnendu BhadraChattanooga$494K
- Aaron MilstoneFranklin$482K
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.