Brian Cole, MD
Sports Medicine · Chicago, ILNPI 1659350379
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — royalties or licence payments (55.2%), consulting fees and speaking fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Arthrex accounts for 88.5% of it on its own, with 36 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $474,355, 2.5 times the $186,237 reported in 2019. Among sports medicine clinicians in IL with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 752 payments — averaging $2742.54 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Arthrex$1.8M
- DJO, LLC$73K
- Vericel Corporation$36K
- Bioventus LLC$25K
- Smith+Nephew$19K
- Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated$14K
- plus $70K from 31 others
Across 52 payments — averaging $16,654 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.
- Aesculap Biologics, LLC$321K
- Zimmer Biomet$260K
- Pacira Therapeutics, Inc.$126K
- Arthrex$98K
- Novartis$52K
- Joint Restoration Foundation, Inc.$9K
- plus $652 from 1 others
Across 7 payments — averaging $21,187 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- Ossio LTD$148K
- Ossio Inc$0
What the payments were for
- Royalty or licence$1,138,21955%
- Consulting fees$578,81228%
- Speaking & faculty fees$298,71114%
- Travel & lodging$34,9542%
- Food & beverage$11,5091%
- Education$1840%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Arthrex | 509 | $1,825,406 |
| DJO, LLC | 60 | $72,651 |
| Vericel Corporation | 45 | $35,734 |
| Bioventus LLC | 12 | $25,449 |
| Smith+Nephew | 15 | $18,887 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 6 | $14,207 |
| Aesculap Biologics, LLC | 36 | $14,107 |
| Acumed LLC | 12 | $13,375 |
| Brixton Biosciences, Inc. | 4 | $12,166 |
| Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 6 | $5,489 |
| Terumo BCT, Inc. | 2 | $5,250 |
| Moximed, Inc | 2 | $4,250 |
| Ossio LTD | 1 | $3,500 |
| Ossio Inc | 5 | $3,435 |
| Averitas Pharma Inc. | 2 | $2,013 |
| Anika Therapeutics, Inc. | 3 | $2,000 |
| GE HealthCare | 1 | $1,352 |
| Stryker | 7 | $687 |
| Joint Restoration Foundation, Inc. | 4 | $482 |
| Organogenesis Inc. | 1 | $250 |
| Linvatec Corporation | 2 | $244 |
| Summit Surgical Corp. | 1 | $218 |
| Illuminoss Medical, Inc. | 1 | $132 |
| Exactech, Inc. | 1 | $125 |
| BREG, Inc | 1 | $125 |
| Sportstek Medical, Inc | 1 | $125 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $124 |
| Encore Medical, LP | 1 | $121 |
| Pavmed Inc. | 1 | $97 |
| Medwest Associates | 1 | $95 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 2 | $74 |
| Team 1, LLC | 1 | $72 |
| Goode Surgical Inc | 1 | $64 |
| Lightbody Medical Technologies Inc | 1 | $34 |
| Active Medical, LLC | 1 | $23 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $17 |
| Merck | 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.
- ARTHREX$4,578,852
- AR-19021TT$125,034
- BIOLOGICS CONSUMABLES CARTILAGE REPAIR ACCESSORIES$115,227
- BIOLOGICS CONSUMABLES CARTILAGE REPAIR GRAFTNET$100,236
- KNEE & HIP INSTRUMENTS MENISCAL REPAIR ZONE NAVIGATOR$97,221
- KNEE & HIP INSTRUMENTS ACL/PCL DISPOSABLES REAMERS$91,125
- SHOULDER IMPLANTS BICEPS REPAIR FIBERTAK$72,759
- KNEE & HIP INSTRUMENTS PATELLOFEMORAL AMZ$61,211
- KNEE & HIP IMPLANTS KNEE ANCHORS KNEE FIBERTAK$38,989
- MACI$35,027
- DONJOY$32,674
- PROCARE$23,350
- KNEE & HIP INSTRUMENTS ACL/PCL DISPOSABLES GUIDE PINS$15,326
- KNEE & HIP INSTRUMENTS REUSABLE INSTRUMENTS ACL$15,326
- NOVOCART 3D$13,160
- EXPAREL$13,125
- Neural Ice$12,166
- Iovera$10,125
- Zilretta$10,125
- Clavicle Plating System$9,250
How this compares
$2,062,389 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 233 sports medicine providers in Illinois.
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 | 32 | $668 |
| Meloxicam | 68 | $355 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 14 | $256 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other sports medicine in Chicago
- Gregory NicholsonChicago$6.7M
- Grant GarriguesChicago$2.5M
- Brian ForsytheChicago$1.9M
- Nikhil VermaChicago$647K
- Shane NhoChicago$521K
- Vehniah TjongChicago$173K
- Aravind AthivirahamChicago$138K
- Adam YankeChicago$132K
- Nicholas TrasoliniChicago$67K
- Nicholas LemmeChicago$49K
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.