Eli Kupperman, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Santa Barbara, CANPI 1972946432
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by grants: $21,250 of the $33,150 with a category attached, or 64.1%. Arthrex accounts for 77.5% of it on its own, with 21 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $29,267 and has fallen 97.7% since, to $661 in 2025.
Across 76 payments — averaging $436.18 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Arthrex$26K
- Smith+Nephew$2K
- DJO, LLC$1K
- Stryker$1K
- Encore Medical, LP$1K
- Johnson & Johnson$892
- plus $826 from 16 others
Across 8 payments — averaging $8207.96 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- Lazurite Inc.$66K
What the payments were for
- Grants$21,25064%
- Travel & lodging$1,8236%
- Food & beverage$3,25710%
- Education$6,81921%
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 | 18 | $25,684 |
| Smith+Nephew | 3 | $2,201 |
| DJO, LLC | 3 | $1,275 |
| Stryker(2 entities) | 17 | $1,249 |
| Encore Medical, LP | 6 | $1,022 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 8 | $892 |
| Nuvasive Specialized Orthopedics, Inc. | 1 | $116 |
| Cornerstone Medical Associates, Inc. | 2 | $106 |
| Illuminoss Medical, Inc. | 1 | $105 |
| Vericel Corporation | 1 | $103 |
| Bioventus LLC | 4 | $99 |
| Alphatec Spine, Inc | 1 | $56 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 2 | $44 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $38 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $26 |
| Ossur Americas, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Team_makena_llc | 1 | $23 |
| Vertex | 1 | $22 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Fidia Pharma USA Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Amgen | 1 | $18 |
| Electronic Waveform Lab, Inc. | 1 | $8 |
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.
- DJO SURGICAL$1,252
- NA$988
- VA-LCP$541
- PROFYLE$347
- PANGEA$330
- MOTOBAND$299
- TFN-Advance$242
- HAMMERLOCK$242
- EXPAREL$227
- Fibulink$147
- PRECICE Intramedullary Limb Lengthening System$116
- TFN ADVANCED$109
- BME NITINOL CONTINUOUS COMPRESSION IMPLANTS$109
- HEADLESS COMPRESSION SCREWS$109
- VA-LCP PLATES & SCREWS$109
- Photodynamic Bone Stabilization Procedure Pack$105
- INSPACE$104
- MACI$103
How this compares
$33,150 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th 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.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Meloxicam | 313 | $957 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 78 | $831 |
| Doxycycline Hyclate | 28 | $441 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 15 | $153 |
| Methylprednisolone | 22 | $128 |
| Ibuprofen | 11 | $70 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Santa Barbara
- Christopher ProctorSanta Barbara$673K
- Bradford HackArcadia$18.3M
- Robert GorabOrange$13.6M
- Kelly VinceLos Angeles$9.6M
- Stephen HowellSacramento$9.4M
- 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.