Benjamin Wooster, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Charlotte, NCNPI 1841618568
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $140,000 of the $188,782 with a category attached, or 74.2%. Stryker accounts for 97.9% of it on its own, with 19 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $73,373, more than ten times the $1,480 reported in 2019. Among orthopaedic surgery clinicians in NC 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 274 payments — averaging $688.98 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Stryker$185K
- Heron Therapeutics, Inc.$1K
- Zimmer Biomet$601
- Smith+Nephew$432
- Encore Medical, LP$294
- Osteoremedies, LLC$221
- plus $1K from 14 others
Across 3 payments — averaging $3754.50 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.
- Stryker$11K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$140,00074%
- Travel & lodging$39,25121%
- Food & beverage$9,5315%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Stryker | 232 | $184,847 |
| Heron Therapeutics, Inc. | 4 | $1,128 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 8 | $601 |
| Smith+Nephew | 5 | $432 |
| Encore Medical, LP | 2 | $294 |
| Osteoremedies, LLC | 2 | $221 |
| Medtronic | 2 | $192 |
| Medacta USA, Inc. | 3 | $176 |
| Intellijoint Surgical Inc. | 1 | $168 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $160 |
| Arthrex | 1 | $121 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 1 | $115 |
| Heraeus Medical, LLC. | 1 | $91 |
| Total Joint Orthopedics, Inc. | 3 | $79 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 2 | $51 |
| Bioventus LLC | 2 | $40 |
| Vertex | 1 | $22 |
| Molnlycke Health Care US, LLC | 1 | $15 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $14 |
| Abbott | 1 | $13 |
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.
- MAKO$113,958
- INSIGNIA$38,950
- TRIATHLON$34,217
- RESTORATION$31,756
- GMRS$27,650
- AEQUALIS$17,370
- ACCOLADE$12,594
- TRIDENT$7,897
- RESTORIS$1,100
- Zynrelef$1,049
- TRITANIUM$697
- Osteoboost Select 10cc$221
- ADAPT$200
- EZOUT$175
- Intellijoint$168
- T7$167
- DJO Surgical AltiVate Reverse$163
- ARISTA AH FLEXITIP$160
- GMK SPHERE$148
- PlasmaBlade$146
How this compares
$188,782 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 845 orthopaedic surgery providers in North 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Celecoxib | 85 | $1,256 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 126 | $1,087 |
| Meloxicam | 134 | $336 |
| Gabapentin | 39 | $216 |
| Methylprednisolone | 25 | $150 |
| Ibuprofen | 20 | $115 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 18 | $114 |
| Amoxicillin | 117 | $99 |
| Ondansetron Hcl | 11 | $74 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 20 | $45 |
| Clindamycin Hcl | 14 | $15 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Charlotte
- Thomas FehringCharlotte$18.3M
- Walter BeaverCharlotte$7.4M
- Robert AndersonCharlotte$6.6M
- John MasonCharlotte$5.7M
- William DavisCharlotte$5.2M
- John EllingtonCharlotte$4.9M
- Carroll JonesCharlotte$3.6M
- John MasonisCharlotte$3.4M
- Bruce CohenCharlotte$2.4M
- Anthony KwonCharlotte$1.9M
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.