Christopher Kreulen, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Sacramento, CANPI 1568660165
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by royalties or licence payments: $3,297,079 of the $3,757,400 with a category attached, or 87.7%. Arthrex accounts for 94.8% of it on its own, with 28 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $1,242,832, more than ten times the $50,950 reported in 2019. Among orthopaedic surgery clinicians in CA 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 401 payments — averaging $9370.08 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Arthrex$3.6M
- Restor3d, Inc.$82K
- Medshape, Inc.$81K
- Sequoia Surgical, Inc.$12K
- Bone Support Inc.$5K
- Evolution Surgical, Inc$4K
- plus $9K from 23 others
Across 23 payments — averaging $2806.87 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$37K
- Arthrex$28K
Across 3 payments — averaging $9972.00 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- Alafair Biosciences, Inc.$30K
What the payments were for
- Royalty or licence$3,297,07988%
- Consulting fees$232,3886%
- Speaking & faculty fees$93,0322%
- Travel & lodging$31,5121%
- Food & beverage$7,2880%
- Education$15,9980%
- Other$80,1032%
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 | 262 | $3,563,732 |
| Restor3d, Inc. | 40 | $82,472 |
| Medshape, Inc. | 4 | $81,422 |
| Sequoia Surgical, Inc. | 29 | $11,557 |
| Bone Support Inc. | 18 | $4,855 |
| Evolution Surgical, Inc | 7 | $3,922 |
| Synthes USA Products LLC | 2 | $2,946 |
| Avitus Orthopaedics, Inc. | 1 | $2,000 |
| Cornerstone Medical Associates, Inc. | 2 | $1,212 |
| Stryker | 7 | $934 |
| Cello Health Advantage Inc | 1 | $400 |
| Acell, Inc. | 3 | $311 |
| Alafair Biosciences, Inc. | 4 | $301 |
| Exactech, Inc. | 3 | $202 |
| Encore Medical, LP | 1 | $146 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 1 | $133 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 3 | $133 |
| Paragon 28, Inc. | 2 | $128 |
| Ossio Inc | 1 | $116 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $106 |
| KCI USA, Inc. | 1 | $105 |
| Novastep Inc. | 1 | $90 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $53 |
| Alpha Orthopedic Systems | 1 | $30 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $25 |
| Sanara Medtech Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Abyrx, Inc | 1 | $21 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 1 | $13 |
| Crossroads Extremity Systems, LLC | 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.
- ARTHREX$16,463,204
- CERAMENTBONE VOID FILLER$4,698
- CERAMENT G$4,698
- CAPITAL CONSUMABLES CONSUMABLES RF BRF$3,282
- DISTAL EXTREMITIES IMPLANTS HINDFOOT & ANKLE TTC NAIL$3,084
- RIA$2,925
- DISTAL EXTREMITIES IMPLANTS IB LIGAMENT AUGMENTATION OTHER$2,730
- DISTAL EXTREMITIES IMPLANTS TRAUMA MINI FRAGMENT$1,900
- EXTREMITIES & TRAUMA IMPLANTS SOFT TISSUE IB LIGAMENT AUGMENTATION$1,250
- EXTREMITIES & TRAUMA IMPLANTS SOFT TISSUE ANCHORS$1,250
- DISTAL EXTREMITIES IMPLANTS MIDFOOT PLATES & SCREWS MIDFOOT SCREWS$1,188
- DISTAL EXTREMITIES IMPLANTS HINDFOOT & ANKLE ANKLE FUSION$840
- DISTAL EXTREMITIES IMPLANTS SOFT TISSUE IB LIGAMENT AUGMENTATION$509
- DISTAL EXTREMITIES IMPLANTS SOFT TISSUE FIBERTAK$509
- DISTAL EXTREMITIES INSTRUMENTS SOFT TISSUE DISPOSABLE KITS$509
- DISTAL EXTREMITIES IMPLANTS SCREWS METAL COMPRESSION SCREWS$475
- DISTAL EXTREMITIES IMPLANTS SOFT TISSUE ANCHORS$475
- DISTAL EXTREMITIES IMPLANTS HINDFOOT & ANKLE ANKLE FRACTURE$420
- BIOLOGICS CONSUMABLES BONE REPAIR IOBP$372
- HOFFMANN$282
How this compares
$3,757,400 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 1,808 orthopaedic surgery providers in California.
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.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Sacramento
- Stephen HowellSacramento$9.4M
- Alan HiraharaSacramento$3.4M
- Bradford HackArcadia$18.3M
- Robert GorabOrange$13.6M
- Kelly VinceLos Angeles$9.6M
- Thomas CoonRed Bluff$9.2M
- Nirav AminPlacentia$5.6M
- Tom NorrisSan Francisco$5.3M
- Jay LiebermanLos Angeles$4.8M
- Peter NewtonSan Diego$4.2M
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.