Benjamin Schell, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery of the Spine · Mt Pleasant, SCNPI 1861802126
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (49.7%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Globus Medical accounts for 66.9% of it on its own, with 18 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $18,067, 4.5 times the $3,990 reported in 2019. That places this record below the midpoint for orthopaedic surgery of the spine clinicians in SC, where the typical reported total is $31,467.
Across 230 payments — averaging $136.81 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Globus Medical$21K
- Abbott$3K
- Medtronic$2K
- Stryker$1K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$1K
- Bioventus LLC$1K
- plus $2K from 13 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$15,65050%
- Travel & lodging$8,08126%
- Food & beverage$7,00122%
- Education$7342%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Globus Medical(2 entities) | 128 | $21,057 |
| Abbott | 17 | $2,667 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 21 | $1,934 |
| Stryker | 10 | $1,362 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 8 | $1,180 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $1,150 |
| Relievant Medsystems, Inc. | 8 | $732 |
| Si-bone, Inc. | 10 | $456 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 9 | $360 |
| Boston Scientific | 9 | $318 |
| Carbofix Spine Inc | 1 | $58 |
| Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $48 |
| Spineology Inc. | 1 | $40 |
| Arteriocyte Medical Systems, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Intrinsic Therapeutics | 1 | $21 |
| Merz Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $17 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $15 |
| Spinal Simplicity, LLC | 1 | $14 |
| Orthofix 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.
- Anthem$7,500
- XLIF$7,000
- PROCLAIM$2,322
- NONE$1,565
- Intracept$1,415
- ExcelsiusGPS Robotic Navigation System$1,320
- CD HORIZON$1,047
- Excelsius - GPS$937
- TLIF$841
- VIPER$789
- CAPRI$343
- MESA$325
- Excelsius Robotics System$217
- Hedron$215
- MONUMENT$163
- ELSA$159
- Sable$144
- RISE-L$130
- TRIATHLON$128
- MazorX - Renaissance$110
How this compares
$31,467 in reported general payments places this provider in the 50th percentile of 32 orthopaedic surgery of the spine providers in South Carolina.
See all orthopaedic surgery of the spine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Naloxone Hcl | 25 | $1,541 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 97 | $470 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 44 | $390 |
| Cephalexin | 54 | $218 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 30 | $217 |
| Gabapentin | 33 | $190 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 32 | $172 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 28 | $82 |
| Ibuprofen | 16 | $80 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery of the spine in Mt Pleasant
- Steven PolettiMt Pleasant$3M
- Donald JohnsonMt Pleasant$2.9M
- Timothy BryanMt Pleasant$135K
- Gene MasseyMyrtle Beach$1.2M
- Rakesh ChokshiFlorence$727K
- Willie EdwardsFlorence$687K
- Ivan LamottaColumbia$299K
- Daniel ReidConway$152K
- James AymondCharleston$91K
- Michael PeelleColumbia$77K
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.