Christopher Nickel, MD
Plastic Surgery within the Head & Neck · Atlanta, GANPI 1194111963
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
9 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medical Device Business Services, Inc. at 47.5% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $2,797 and has fallen 81.0% since, to $532 in 2025.
Across 38 payments — averaging $127.01 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$2K
- Johnson & Johnson$1K
- Axogen$453
- Medtronic$308
- Baxter Healthcare$146
- Lucid Diagnostics Inc.$130
- plus $203 from 3 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$2,04042%
- Food & beverage$2,78658%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 8 | $2,292 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 16 | $1,294 |
| Axogen | 4 | $453 |
| Medtronic | 3 | $308 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $146 |
| Lucid Diagnostics Inc. | 1 | $130 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 1 | $110 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 2 | $58 |
| KARL Storz Endoscopy-america | 2 | $35 |
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.
- TRUMATCH$2,293
- MATRIXMANDIBLE$445
- AVANCE NERVE GRAFT$376
- NA$305
- NIM Vital$150
- AxoGuard Nerve Connector$146
- AxoGuard Nerve Protector$146
- AXOGUARD HA+ NERVE PROTECTOR$146
- AxoGuard Nerve Cap$146
How this compares
$4,826 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 24 plastic surgery within the head & neck providers in Georgia.
See all plastic surgery within the head & neck providers in Georgia →
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Gabapentin | 19 | $300 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 13 | $117 |
| Pentoxifylline | 14 | $116 |
| Levothyroxine Sodium | 19 | $99 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other plastic surgery within the head & neck in Atlanta
- Mihir PatelAtlanta$194K
- Clementino SolaresAtlanta$86K
- Nicole SchmittAtlanta$16K
- Jennifer GrossAtlanta$11K
- Elizabeth WhitakerAtlanta$10K
- Brian BoyceAtlanta$7K
- Louis DejosephAtlanta$5K
- Tyler HalleAtlanta$3K
- William SilverAtlanta$3K
- Inessa FishmanAtlanta$2K
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.