Care Atlas

CMS Open Payments · 2024

Dr. Steve Charles

Retina Specialist · GERMANTOWN, TN · NPI 1861495780

Many doctors share a name — check the specialty and city above match your doctor before you read this as theirs.

$468,754 reported by drug & device companies in 2024 · 60 payments

Not all payments mean the same thing. Split apart:

$168,754
Promotional

Meals, speaking fees, travel, consulting — money from companies marketing their products. This is the relationship to weigh against a recommendation. For this doctor it is substantial.

$300,000
Royalty / ownership

Income for a device or method the doctor invented or owns — large for some surgeons, and not a conflict over what to prescribe you.

This is well above what most doctors receive in promotional payments — a relationship worth being aware of when weighing a recommendation.

Largest paying companies

The companies that paid this doctor the most in 2024 — each company's full total (promotional + research + royalty), from CMS's separate by-company report, so these may not add up to the split above.

Alcon Research LLC $428,019
Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. $70,954
Alcon Vision LLC $40,536
EyePoint US, Inc. $22,003
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $8,317

What the payments were for

Royalty or license $300,000Consulting fees $142,960Travel & lodging $24,464Food & beverage $1,330

What this is — and is not

This is the public record companies are required by law to report (the Sunshine Act). A disclosed payment is a financial relationship — it is not proof of wrongdoing, and not evidence that it changed your care. Many payments are entirely legitimate (research, royalties for inventions, education). The point is transparency: you get to know, and to ask. It is not a rating of Dr. Steve Charles.

Also available: structured data · plain text. Verify at CMS Open Payments (NPI 1861495780).