Erik Stapleton, DO
Sports Medicine · Princeton, WVNPI 1033566369
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (50.5%), travel and lodging and grants — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 11 manufacturers reported payments, led by Smith+Nephew at 45.1% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $10,352 and has fallen 98.7% since, to $133 in 2025. Among sports medicine clinicians in WV 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 85 payments — averaging $261.14 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Smith+Nephew$10K
- Arthrex$4K
- Stryker$3K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$3K
- Mid-atlantic Surgical Systems, LLC$2K
- Vericel Corporation$109
- plus $139 from 5 others
What the payments were for
- Grants$2,98413%
- Travel & lodging$5,36824%
- Food & beverage$2,64412%
- Education$11,20050%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Smith+Nephew | 3 | $10,017 |
| Arthrex | 41 | $3,993 |
| Stryker | 26 | $3,373 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 2 | $3,005 |
| Mid-atlantic Surgical Systems, LLC | 7 | $1,561 |
| Vericel Corporation | 1 | $109 |
| Avanos Medical | 1 | $70 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $20 |
| Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $17 |
| Merck | 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.
- BLUEPRINT PATIENT SPECIFIC INSTRUMENTATION$2,103
- AEQUALIS PERFORM$171
- SLINGSHOT$169
- CINCHLOCK$164
- FLOWPORT$164
- INSIGNIA$117
- MACI$109
How this compares
$22,197 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 25 sports medicine providers in West Virginia.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oxycodone Hcl | 93 | $404 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 100 | $237 |
| Meloxicam | 32 | $151 |
| Mupirocin | 25 | $148 |
| Ondansetron OdtOndansetron | 13 | $112 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other sports medicine in Princeton
- Dana LycansHuntington$39K
- James CoxHurricane$17K
- George BalMorgantown$17K
- Michael GoldenCharles Town$9K
- Stephen WhitfieldBeckley$8K
- Marlene DemaioHuntington$6K
- William PostMorgantown$4K
- Joseph FazalareBridgeport$3K
- Gregory ElkinsHamlin$857
- Gregory HendricksHuntington$479
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.