James Burke
Neurological Surgery · Altoona, PANPI 1720151855
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $199,094 of the $265,063 with a category attached, or 75.1%. Cerapedics Inc. accounts for 86.2% of it on its own, with 20 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $107,140 and has fallen 74.7% since, to $27,080 in 2025. Among neurological surgery clinicians in PA 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 255 payments — averaging $1039.46 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Cerapedics Inc.$228K
- Spineart USA Inc$30K
- Globus Medical$2K
- Orthofix Medical, Inc.$1K
- VB Spine LLC$841
- Abbott$804
- plus $2K from 15 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$199,09475%
- Travel & lodging$51,95320%
- Food & beverage$12,8955%
- Education$1,1210%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cerapedics Inc. | 119 | $228,446 |
| Spineart USA Inc | 48 | $29,657 |
| Globus Medical(2 entities) | 24 | $1,747 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 7 | $1,404 |
| VB Spine LLC | 6 | $841 |
| Abbott | 13 | $804 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 7 | $549 |
| Stryker | 8 | $424 |
| Nevro Corp. | 4 | $380 |
| Amgen | 1 | $135 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $125 |
| EMD Serono, Inc. | 3 | $93 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 4 | $91 |
| Spinal Elements, Inc. | 1 | $88 |
| Camber Spine Technologies LLC | 1 | $78 |
| Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc. | 2 | $64 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 1 | $53 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $30 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 1 | $22 |
| Centinel Spine, LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Zimvie Inc. | 1 | $14 |
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.
- I-FACTOR PEPTIDE ENHANCED BONE GRAFT$237,981
- Perla TL$16,879
- PERLA C$6,921
- Scarlet AL-T$1,264
- XLIF$1,092
- Firebird NXG Spinal Fixation System$752
- Firebird Spinal Fixation System$752
- FORZA PEEK Spacer System$742
- EVEREST SPINAL SYSTEM$688
- FORZA PTC Spacer System$627
- InSWing$627
- PHOENIX Minimally Invasive Spinal Fixation System$484
- Unity Lumbosacral Fixation System$482
- TDX Posterior Dynamic Stabilization$482
- Spinal Fixation System (SFS)$482
- PILLAR AL PEEK Spacer System$359
- PROCLAIM$343
- Juliet LL$254
- Firebird Deformity Correction System$248
- ATHLET$248
How this compares
$265,063 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 390 neurological surgery 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 181 | $1,169 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 198 | $1,034 |
| Ibuprofen | 86 | $592 |
| Gabapentin | 18 | $211 |
| IbuIbuprofen | 21 | $114 |
| Methylprednisolone | 16 | $93 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other neurological surgery in Altoona
- Amer SamdaniPhiladelphia$4.4M
- Steven FalowskiFountain Hill$3M
- Adam KanterPittsburgh$2.6M
- David OkonkwoPittsburgh$2.3M
- Brian JankowitzPhiladelphia$823K
- Gaurav JainWynnewood$599K
- Joshua HellerPhiladelphia$519K
- Srinivas PrasadPhiladelphia$513K
- Constantinos HadjipanayisPittsburgh$484K
- Oded GorenDanville$448K
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.