Christopher Merifield, MD
Pain Medicine · Seattle, WANPI 1811978976
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $4,345 of the $5,165 with a category attached, or 84.1%. 10 manufacturers reported payments, led by Nevro Corp. at 45.0% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $1,111 and has fallen 74.7% since, to $281 in 2025.
Across 40 payments — averaging $129.12 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Nevro Corp.$2K
- Medtronic$857
- Abbott$405
- Painteq LLC$340
- Vertos Medical, Inc.$283
- Globus Medical$281
- plus $676 from 4 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$82016%
- Food & beverage$4,34584%
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.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Nevro Corp. | 21 | $2,324 |
| Medtronic | 3 | $857 |
| Abbott | 2 | $405 |
| Painteq LLC | 3 | $340 |
| Vertos Medical, Inc. | 2 | $283 |
| Globus Medical | 2 | $281 |
| Nalu Medical, Inc. | 2 | $222 |
| Stimwave Technologies Incorporated | 3 | $187 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $155 |
| Amgen | 1 | $112 |
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.
- Omnia$1,109
- Senza Spinal Cord Stimulation System$635
- Senza$377
- PAINTEQ$340
- mild Device Kit$283
- Lamitrode SCS Leads$214
- Proclaim IPG$191
- Nalu Neurostimulation System$179
- SPECTRA WAVEWRITER$155
- Affix$143
- AIMOVIG$112
How this compares
$5,165 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 124 pain medicine providers in Washington.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| BelbucaBuprenorphine Hcl | 100 | $78,496 |
| Buprenorphine | 228 | $62,640 |
| Buprenorphine-NaloxoneBuprenorphine Hcl/Naloxone Hcl | 187 | $17,264 |
| ButransBuprenorphine | 18 | $8,081 |
| OxycontinOxycodone Hcl | 20 | $7,048 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 285 | $6,624 |
| Buprenorphine Hcl | 161 | $4,539 |
| Gabapentin | 206 | $3,433 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 327 | $3,225 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 177 | $2,741 |
| Fentanyl | 37 | $2,033 |
| Methadone Hcl | 103 | $1,648 |
| Pregabalin | 91 | $1,506 |
| Morphine Sulfate ErMorphine Sulfate | 47 | $1,331 |
| Hydromorphone Hcl | 88 | $1,031 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other pain medicine in Seattle
- Steven StanosSeattle$206K
- Corrie AndersonSeattle$102K
- Gregory TermanSeattle$95K
- Miroslav BackonjaSeattle$22K
- Alex CahanaSeattle$12K
- Michael GofeldSeattle$8K
- Agnes StogiczaSeattle$5K
- Rana Al-JumahSeattle$4K
- Alexander NguyenSeattle$4K
- Juan Ruiz HurtarteSeattle$4K
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.