Gerlinde Wernig, MD
Anatomic Pathology · Palo Alto, CANPI 1609049741
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 3 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. Every reported general payment came from a single manufacturer, Boehringer Ingelheim. That places this record below the midpoint for anatomic pathology clinicians in CA, where the typical reported total is $147.
Across 3 payments — averaging $23.87 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Boehringer Ingelheim$72
Across 5 payments — averaging $225,000 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.
- Boehringer Ingelheim$1.1M
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$72100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 3 | $72 |
How this compares
$72 in reported general payments places this provider in the 35th percentile of 154 anatomic pathology 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.
Other anatomic pathology in Palo Alto
- Alexander GitlinPalo Alto$24K
- Xiaohua QianPalo Alto$535
- Peter TontonozLos Angeles$13.6M
- Kenneth WidderRancho Santa Fe$1M
- Sheeja PullarkatLos Angeles$253K
- Lawrence WeissAliso Viejo$215K
- Alfred LuiTorrance$189K
- Meredith MillerRedwood City$181K
- Lauren JacobsonSanta Barbara$124K
- Kenneth BloomAliso Viejo$80K
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.