William Ashwander, MD
Vascular Surgery · North Charleston, SCNPI 1649414970
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 76 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 21 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 22.8% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. That places this record below the midpoint for vascular surgery clinicians in SC, where the typical reported total is $7,261.
Across 76 payments — averaging $37.20 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$644
- Medtronic$640
- Endologix LLC$499
- Biocompatibles, Inc.$192
- Stryker$191
- Boston Scientific$115
- plus $546 from 15 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$2,827100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 10 | $644 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 23 | $640 |
| Endologix LLC | 4 | $499 |
| Biocompatibles, Inc. | 4 | $192 |
| Stryker | 5 | $191 |
| Boston Scientific | 6 | $115 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 2 | $95 |
| Silk Road Medical, Inc. | 2 | $87 |
| AbbVie | 3 | $56 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 3 | $41 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 1 | $35 |
| Tactile Systems Technology Inc | 2 | $33 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 2 | $32 |
| Solventum Corporation | 1 | $31 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $28 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 1 | $27 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $21 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $21 |
| Cardiva Medical, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 1 | $13 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $12 |
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
$2,827 in reported general payments places this provider in the 20th percentile of 99 vascular surgery 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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 24 | $16,940 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 57 | $628 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 20 | $205 |
| Simvastatin | 13 | $71 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 24 | $41 |
| Diazepam | 16 | $15 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other vascular surgery in North Charleston
- Thomas ApplebyNorth Charleston$89K
- Kenneth DesartNorth Charleston$6K
- John RossOrangeburg$847K
- David DeatonColumbia$609K
- Mathew WoosterWest Columbia$443K
- Sagar GandhiGreenville$236K
- Ravi VeeraswamyCharleston$164K
- Gerald FortunaWest Columbia$143K
- Kristian HochbergCharleston$106K
- Joseph BlasGreenville$101K
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.