Frank Coufal, MD
Neurological Surgery · la Jolla, CANPI 1760495303
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $2,128 of the $2,647 with a category attached, or 80.4%. 13 manufacturers reported payments, led by Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc. at 35.6% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $985 and has fallen 82.7% since, to $171 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for neurological surgery clinicians in CA, where the typical reported total is $3,356.
Across 44 payments — averaging $60.15 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc.$943
- Medtronic$637
- Globus Medical$492
- Integra Lifesciences Corporation$165
- Intrinsic Therapeutics$102
- Orthofix Medical, Inc.$82
- plus $226 from 7 others
Across 2 payments — averaging $73.13 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Medtronic$146
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$51820%
- Food & beverage$2,12880%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc. | 7 | $943 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 13 | $637 |
| Globus Medical(2 entities) | 11 | $492 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 3 | $165 |
| Intrinsic Therapeutics | 2 | $102 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 1 | $82 |
| Ossdsign USA Incorporated | 1 | $52 |
| Providence Medical Technology, Inc. | 1 | $39 |
| Stryker | 1 | $38 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $33 |
| Carlsmed, Inc. | 1 | $28 |
| Merz Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $21 |
| GT Medical Technologies, Inc | 1 | $15 |
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
$2,647 in reported general payments places this provider in the 45th percentile of 773 neurological 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Gabapentin | 49 | $423 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 44 | $408 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 22 | $180 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 11 | $108 |
| Carisoprodol | 20 | $75 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other neurological surgery in la Jolla
- Christopher AmesSan Francisco$7.1M
- Larry KhooLos Angeles$2.8M
- Samy AbdouSan Diego$2.4M
- Bret AbshireMurrieta$2.3M
- William TaylorSan Diego$2.1M
- Tooraj GravoriEncino$2M
- Ali MesiwalaRancho Cucamonga$1.5M
- Joseph OsorioSan Diego$1.3M
- Ian JohnsonFresno$1.3M
- Aaron Cohen-GadolLos Angeles$1.3M
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.