Charles Whitten, MD
Pain Medicine · Lincoln, NENPI 1528405719
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $15,682 of the $24,993 with a category attached, or 62.7%. 48 manufacturers reported payments, led by Boston Scientific at 39.2% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $6,655 and has fallen 68.5% since, to $2,096 in 2025. Among pain medicine clinicians in NE 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 761 payments — averaging $32.84 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Boston Scientific$10K
- AbbVie$3K
- Vertiflex, Inc.$2K
- Relievant Medsystems, Inc.$1K
- SPR Therapeutics, Inc$1K
- Medtronic$872
- plus $7K from 42 others
Across 2 payments — averaging $820.00 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.
- Medtronic$2K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$1,6507%
- Speaking & faculty fees$4,31317%
- Travel & lodging$2,88312%
- Food & beverage$15,68263%
- Education$4652%
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.
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.
- SUPERION$4,432
- Intracept$1,845
- Superion ISS$1,411
- GENERAL PAIN MANAGEMENT$961
- SPRINT PNS System$800
- WaveWriter Alpha Prime 16$501
- Evoke$185
- INTELLIS$164
- ReActiv8$160
- Proclaim DRG IPG$160
- Proclaim Family of SCS IPGs$131
- SPECTRA WAVEWRITER$114
How this compares
$24,993 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 31 pain medicine providers in Nebraska.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Buprenorphine | 15 | $5,973 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 193 | $4,553 |
| Gabapentin | 304 | $4,496 |
| Pregabalin | 101 | $2,173 |
| Methocarbamol | 88 | $1,852 |
| Celecoxib | 72 | $1,413 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 75 | $1,300 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 67 | $893 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 75 | $803 |
| Duloxetine Hcl | 57 | $740 |
| Cephalexin | 82 | $628 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 31 | $430 |
| Meloxicam | 126 | $396 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 12 | $93 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other pain medicine in Lincoln
- Phillip EssayLincoln$63K
- John MasseyLincoln$13K
- Liane DonovanLincoln$13K
- Robert RentfroLincoln$124
- Austin ReillyElkhorn$34K
- Matthew StottleOmaha$14K
- Katie BerkyOmaha$12K
- Dongyup LeeGrand Island$11K
- Ihsan BalkayaNorfolk$10K
- Tyrus SoaresOmaha$8K
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.