Benjamin Gerber, MD
Surgery · Columbia, MONPI 1467748673
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $2,016 of the $2,436 with a category attached, or 82.8%. 6 manufacturers reported payments, led by Johnson & Johnson at 41.1% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $913 and has fallen 82.0% since, to $164 in 2025.
Across 43 payments — averaging $56.65 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Johnson & Johnson$1K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$605
- Intuitive Surgical$429
- Davol Inc.$254
- Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc.$127
- Merck$18
Across 17 payments — averaging $1678.82 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Johnson & Johnson$29K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$40216%
- Food & beverage$2,01683%
- Education$181%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson & Johnson | 28 | $1,002 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 6 | $605 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 4 | $429 |
| Davol Inc. | 3 | $254 |
| Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $127 |
| Merck | 1 | $18 |
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
$2,436 in reported general payments places this provider in the 55th percentile of 612 surgery providers in Missouri.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 160 | $579 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 26 | $53 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgery in Columbia
- John TannColumbia$216K
- Milot ThaqiColumbia$87K
- Andrew WheelerColumbia$66K
- Kevin BartowColumbia$54K
- Thomas XuColumbia$26K
- Norbert RichardsonColumbia$25K
- Forrest EricksenColumbia$21K
- Joshua LandreneauColumbia$17K
- James ScottSaint Louis$307K
- Omar GuerraSaint Louis$249K
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.