Walter Rucker, MD
Family Medicine · Cleveland, TNNPI 1386644094
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 75 payments — averaging $16.80 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Lilly USA, LLC$189
- Pfizer$171
- AstraZeneca$110
- Novo Nordisk$105
- Merz North America, Inc.$100
- Boehringer Ingelheim$95
- plus $491 from 16 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,24399%
- Education$171%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lilly USA, LLC | 11 | $189 |
| Pfizer | 10 | $171 |
| AstraZeneca | 7 | $110 |
| Novo Nordisk | 6 | $105 |
| Merz North America, Inc. | 1 | $100 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 5 | $95 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 7 | $93 |
| Halozyme Inc | 3 | $46 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 3 | $45 |
| Antares Pharma, Inc. | 3 | $44 |
| Amgen | 2 | $37 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 2 | $37 |
| Clarus Therapeutics Inc. | 5 | $36 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 2 | $29 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Exact Sciences | 1 | $17 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $14 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Dexcom, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $11 |
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.
How this compares
$1,260 in reported general payments places this provider in the 60th percentile of 2,087 family medicine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| OzempicSemaglutide | 121 | $116,702 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 93 | $96,684 |
| EliquisApixaban | 68 | $68,582 |
| OtezlaApremilast | 12 | $58,033 |
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 41 | $55,908 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 41 | $44,166 |
| Trelegy ElliptaFluticasone/Umeclidin/Vilanter | 31 | $34,885 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 40 | $31,701 |
| Tresiba Flextouch U-100Insulin Degludec | 15 | $24,474 |
| XyostedTestosterone Enanthate | 27 | $20,896 |
| Nurtec OdtRimegepant Sulfate | 11 | $18,766 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 14 | $15,222 |
| MyrbetriqMirabegron | 24 | $15,021 |
| RybelsusSemaglutide | 12 | $13,307 |
| Toujeo SolostarInsulin Glargine,hum.Rec.Anlog | 24 | $12,613 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Novo NordiskOzempic, Rybelsus | $105 | $130,009133 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCMounjaro | $189 | $96,68493 claims |
| PfizerEliquis, Nurtec Odt | $171 | $87,34779 claims |
| AmgenOtezla | $37 | $58,03312 claims |
| Boehringer IngelheimJardiance | $95 | $44,16641 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga, Brilinta | $110 | $38,92751 claims |
| Antares Pharma, Inc.Xyosted | $44 | $20,89627 claims |
| AbbVieSynthroid | $93 | $2,64134 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 60th percentile of 2,087 family medicine providers in Tennessee.
Other family medicine in Cleveland
- Rickey ManningKnoxville$8.1M
- Kymberly MoyerGallatin$5.9M
- Natasha BallardChattanooga$5.7M
- Hina BudhwaniNashville$4.7M
- Paul WakefieldKnoxville$4.3M
- Emily HubbsKingsport$2.8M
- Jerry PunchKnoxville$2.1M
- Bridgette FraneyNashville$2M
- Andrew BrockmyreBristol$1.8M
- Marcus LeeTullahoma$1.5M
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.