Aaron Berger
Surgery of the Hand · Oakland, CANPI 1831385053
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (47.9%), consulting fees and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 27 manufacturers reported payments, led by Checkpoint Surgical, Inc at 58.2% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $7,242 and has fallen 93.8% since, to $450 in 2025. Among surgery of the hand clinicians in CA 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 87 payments — averaging $165.99 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Checkpoint Surgical, Inc$8K
- Axogen$1K
- Biotissue Holdings Inc.$684
- Integra Lifesciences Corporation$647
- Southern Edge Orthopaedics, Inc.$540
- Stryker$449
- plus $2K from 21 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$4,00028%
- Travel & lodging$2,98021%
- Food & beverage$6,92148%
- Education$5404%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Checkpoint Surgical, Inc | 20 | $8,407 |
| Axogen | 11 | $1,280 |
| Biotissue Holdings Inc. | 6 | $684 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 7 | $647 |
| Southern Edge Orthopaedics, Inc. | 1 | $540 |
| Stryker | 3 | $449 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 3 | $421 |
| Polynovo North America LLC | 7 | $344 |
| Mentor Worldwide LLC | 2 | $219 |
| Innovation Technologies Inc | 1 | $198 |
| Wishbone Medical Inc. | 2 | $150 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $144 |
| Alafair Biosciences, Inc. | 1 | $130 |
| Trimed, Inc. | 2 | $128 |
| Solta Medical, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 1 | $118 |
| Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $100 |
| Urgo Medical North America, LLC | 6 | $85 |
| Galderma Laboratories, L.p. | 1 | $85 |
| Kerecis Limited | 1 | $84 |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $68 |
| Cranial Technologies, Inc | 2 | $32 |
| Bioventus LLC | 2 | $30 |
| Access Pro Medical, LLC | 1 | $28 |
| Ipsen Biopharmaceuticals, Inc | 1 | $28 |
| PPOD Orthotics Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| KCI USA, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Amniox Medical, Inc. | 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.
- Checkpoint Stimulators$8,131
- AVANCE NERVE GRAFT$871
- AxoGuard Nerve Connector$661
- AxoGuard Nerve Protector$661
- NATRELLE SALINE-FILLED BREAST IMPLANTS$421
- SPY-PHI SYSTEM$323
- DuraSorb Monofilament Mesh$313
- STRATTICE RECONSTRUCTIVE TISSUE MATRIX BPS$275
- AXOGUARD HA+ NERVE PROTECTOR$268
- AxoGuard Nerve Cap$268
- MENTOR MemoryGel Resterilizable Gel Sizer$219
- Irrisept$198
- INTEGRA DERMAL REGENERATION TEMPLATE$153
- INTEGRA MESHED BILAYER WOUND MATRIX$153
- PRIMATRIX$153
- INTEGRA FLOWABLE WOUND MATRIX$153
- INTEGRA WOUND MATRIX (IWM)$153
- A.L.P.S.$144
- VersaWrap$130
- VARIAX$125
How this compares
$14,441 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 76 surgery of the hand providers in California.
Other surgery of the hand in Oakland
- Douglas ChinOakland$4K
- Bauback SafaSan Francisco$172K
- Emily Perezla Mirada$56K
- Joshua GluckVentura$26K
- Howard SutkinLos Gatos$22K
- Nicole ConklingOrange$14K
- Marie DuschSanta Maria$11K
- Andre IshakOxnard$11K
- Alfonso CamberosSan Diego$10K
- James ColemanOrange$9K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.