Danielle Zheng
Pain Medicine · Pittsburgh, PANPI 1215391800
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — grants (58.6%), food and beverage and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 20 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medtronic at 45.6% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $6,697 and has fallen 88.4% since, to $775 in 2025.
Across 91 payments — averaging $108.72 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$5K
- Abbott$3K
- Tersera Therapeutics LLC$586
- Nevro Corp.$321
- Boston Scientific$241
- Curonix LLC$150
- plus $805 from 14 others
What the payments were for
- Grants$5,80059%
- Travel & lodging$1502%
- Food & beverage$3,86439%
- Education$801%
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) | 11 | $4,508 |
| Abbott | 26 | $3,283 |
| Tersera Therapeutics LLC | 24 | $586 |
| Nevro Corp. | 5 | $321 |
| Boston Scientific | 3 | $241 |
| Curonix LLC | 2 | $150 |
| MML US, Inc. | 1 | $129 |
| Si-bone, Inc. | 1 | $103 |
| Stimwave Technologies Incorporated | 1 | $93 |
| Merz North America, Inc. | 2 | $85 |
| SPR Therapeutics, Inc | 1 | $68 |
| Merz Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $52 |
| Globus Medical | 2 | $51 |
| Averitas Pharma Inc. | 2 | $46 |
| Avanos Medical | 2 | $43 |
| Nalu Medical, Inc. | 2 | $36 |
| Vertex | 2 | $34 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 1 | $24 |
| Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Tonix Medicines, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
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.
How this compares
$9,893 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Gabapentin | 274 | $4,091 |
| Pregabalin | 55 | $1,410 |
| Duloxetine Hcl | 136 | $1,224 |
| Methocarbamol | 129 | $915 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 23 | $685 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 77 | $539 |
| Memantine Hcl | 18 | $478 |
| Naltrexone Hcl | 17 | $472 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 52 | $258 |
| Celecoxib | 21 | $162 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 23 | $157 |
| Meloxicam | 21 | $135 |
| Baclofen | 19 | $128 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 26 | $124 |
| Hydromorphone Hcl | 14 | $72 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other pain medicine in Pittsburgh
- Ajay WasanPittsburgh$66K
- Abraham KabaziePittsburgh$18K
- Michael HurPittsburgh$12K
- Feno MonacoPittsburgh$12K
- Richard GaoPittsburgh$7K
- Peter PryzbylkowskiPhiladelphia$506K
- Yeshvant NavalgundGreensburg$388K
- Jack SmithWilliamsport$324K
- Sanjay GuptaBala Cynwyd$241K
- Vwaire OrhurhuWilliamsport$191K
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.