William Taunton, MD
Family Medicine · Tuscaloosa, ALNPI 1548482995
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 278 payments — averaging $16.22 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- AstraZeneca$729
- Astellas Pharma US Inc$445
- Novo Nordisk$355
- Lilly USA, LLC$278
- Amgen$265
- Pfizer$233
- plus $2K from 25 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$4,510100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| AstraZeneca | 50 | $729 |
| Astellas Pharma US Inc | 23 | $445 |
| Novo Nordisk | 21 | $355 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 18 | $278 |
| Amgen | 16 | $265 |
| Pfizer | 17 | $233 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 12 | $211 |
| Amarin Pharma, Inc. | 13 | $208 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 12 | $191 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 12 | $185 |
| Corcept Therapeutics | 7 | $161 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 11 | $155 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 9 | $148 |
| Tris Pharma Inc | 6 | $144 |
| Novartis | 8 | $133 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 8 | $109 |
| Merck | 6 | $86 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 6 | $82 |
| Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 3 | $62 |
| Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. | 3 | $59 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $56 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 4 | $52 |
| Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 2 | $30 |
| Neos Therapeutics, LP | 1 | $22 |
| Aytu Biopharma, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| ITI, Inc. (d/b/a Intra-cellular Therapies, Inc.) | 1 | $17 |
| Exact Sciences | 1 | $17 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 1 | $14 |
| Mylan Specialty L.p. | 1 | $14 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
How this compares
$4,510 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 1,680 family medicine providers in Alabama.
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 | 21 | $18,376 |
| MounjaroTirzepatide | 17 | $17,962 |
| EliquisApixaban | 26 | $17,042 |
| FarxigaDapagliflozin Propanediol | 18 | $14,793 |
| EntrestoSacubitril/Valsartan | 18 | $11,591 |
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 21 | $11,480 |
| Synjardy XrEmpagliflozin/Metformin Hcl | 12 | $7,137 |
| Testosterone Cypionate | 12 | $551 |
| Potassium Chloride | 12 | $523 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 81 | $473 |
| Amoxicillin-Clavulanate PotassAmoxicillin/Potassium Clav | 83 | $442 |
| Sucralfate | 17 | $440 |
| Tamsulosin Hcl | 35 | $408 |
| ValacyclovirValacyclovir Hcl | 17 | $294 |
| Cefdinir | 19 | $291 |
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 IngelheimJardiance, Synjardy Xr | $155 | $18,61733 claims |
| Novo NordiskOzempic | $355 | $18,37621 claims |
| Lilly USA, LLCMounjaro | $278 | $17,96217 claims |
| PfizerEliquis | $233 | $17,04226 claims |
| AstraZenecaFarxiga | $729 | $14,79318 claims |
| NovartisEntresto | $133 | $11,59118 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 80th percentile of 1,680 family medicine providers in Alabama.
Other family medicine in Tuscaloosa
- Kelly HunterTuscaloosa$84K
- Ross SummerfordTuscaloosa$18K
- Craig BuettnerTuscaloosa$17K
- Michael VaughnBirmingham$9.9M
- William NixonGuntersville$7.1M
- Randall QuinnCullman$5.4M
- Matthew CaldwellAthens$4.1M
- Michael CarterHuntsville$3.4M
- Howard RubensteinSaraland$3.3M
- Randle MiddletonHuntsville$3.3M
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.