Bruce Nicholson, MD
Pain Medicine · Allentown, PANPI 1669460481
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $37,356 of the $57,528 with a category attached, or 64.9%. Medtronic accounts for 71.0% of it on its own, with 22 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $19,505 and has fallen 94.4% since, to $1,094 in 2025. Among pain medicine clinicians in PA 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 205 payments — averaging $280.62 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$41K
- Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc.$8K
- Lilly USA, LLC$3K
- Myovant Sciences Inc.$2K
- GRT US Holding, Inc.$1K
- Abbott$436
- plus $2K from 17 others
Across 7 payments — averaging $3931.57 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.
- GRT US Holding, Inc.$20K
- Medtronic$8K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$9,11516%
- Speaking & faculty fees$37,35665%
- Travel & lodging$3,7587%
- Food & beverage$7,29913%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 122 | $40,826 |
| Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 23 | $7,971 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 2 | $3,325 |
| Myovant Sciences Inc. | 1 | $2,050 |
| GRT US Holding, Inc. | 9 | $1,349 |
| Abbott | 10 | $436 |
| Vertos Medical, Inc. | 9 | $378 |
| Stryker | 6 | $323 |
| Boston Scientific | 2 | $232 |
| Painteq LLC | 4 | $158 |
| Averitas Pharma Inc. | 1 | $95 |
| Spinal Simplicity, LLC | 1 | $88 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $51 |
| Tersera Therapeutics LLC | 2 | $45 |
| Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 2 | $32 |
| Merz North America, Inc. | 1 | $29 |
| Amgen | 1 | $25 |
| Vertiflex, Inc. | 2 | $25 |
| Pfizer | 2 | $22 |
| UCB, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Almatica Pharma LLC | 1 | $19 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $17 |
| Biodelivery Sciences International, Inc. | 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.
- ADAPTIVESTIM$9,927
- INTELLIS$9,358
- RESTORE$8,917
- INTELLIS ADAPTIVESTIM$8,218
- Nucynta$7,486
- Qutenza$1,108
- SYNCHROMEDII$916
- SYNCHROMED$558
- PROCLAIM$323
- KYPHON Balloon Kyphoplasty$269
- Vanta$248
- mild Device Kit$135
- VECTRIS SURESCAN$126
- PAINTEQ$124
- Infinion 16$120
- VANTA ADAPTIVESTIM$116
- INFINION$112
- INCEPTIV$108
- XTAMPZA$106
How this compares
$57,528 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 294 pain medicine providers in Pennsylvania.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nucynta ErTapentadol Hcl | 31 | $40,930 |
| Xtampza ErOxycodone Myristate | 22 | $26,549 |
| NucyntaTapentadol Hcl | 17 | $21,756 |
| OxycontinOxycodone Hcl | 26 | $9,490 |
| Buprenorphine | 17 | $5,595 |
| Fentanyl | 30 | $2,820 |
| Morphine Sulfate ErMorphine Sulfate | 64 | $1,863 |
| Morphine Sulfate | 68 | $1,691 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 89 | $1,540 |
| Tramadol Hcl ErTramadol Hcl | 24 | $1,498 |
| Gabapentin | 88 | $1,340 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 61 | $944 |
| Pregabalin | 23 | $739 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 38 | $700 |
| Methadone Hcl | 26 | $645 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc.Nucynta Er, Xtampza Er, Nucynta | $7,971 | $89,23470 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 95th percentile of 294 pain medicine providers in Pennsylvania.
Other pain medicine in Allentown
- Soon JungAllentown$58K
- Dong KoAllentown$8K
- Gene LevinsteinAllentown$7K
- Robert WilsonAllentown$7K
- Peter PryzbylkowskiPhiladelphia$506K
- Yeshvant NavalgundGreensburg$388K
- Jack SmithWilliamsport$324K
- Sanjay GuptaBala Cynwyd$241K
- Vwaire OrhurhuWilliamsport$191K
- Philip KimBryn Mawr$128K
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.