James Distefano, MD
Sports Medicine · Alameda, CANPI 1942513882
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (51.6%), food and beverage and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 19 manufacturers reported payments, led by Evolution Surgical, Inc at 48.3% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $7,664 and has fallen 63.9% since, to $2,766 in 2025.
Across 158 payments — averaging $158.79 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Evolution Surgical, Inc$12K
- Arthrex$8K
- Stryker$3K
- Johnson & Johnson$936
- Miach Orthopaedics, Inc.$613
- Medacta USA, Inc.$284
- plus $912 from 13 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$5,26921%
- Food & beverage$6,88227%
- Education$12,93852%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Evolution Surgical, Inc | 37 | $12,115 |
| Arthrex | 51 | $7,679 |
| Stryker | 27 | $2,549 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 16 | $936 |
| Miach Orthopaedics, Inc. | 3 | $613 |
| Medacta USA, Inc. | 2 | $284 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 4 | $194 |
| Vericel Corporation | 2 | $153 |
| Axogen | 3 | $129 |
| Moximed, Inc | 2 | $114 |
| Skeletal Dynamics Inc | 1 | $97 |
| Alafair Biosciences, Inc. | 1 | $58 |
| Globus Medical | 2 | $48 |
| Smith+Nephew | 2 | $40 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $16 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $15 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $15 |
| My01 Inc. | 1 | $13 |
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$1,693
- NA$819
- MOTOBAND$246
- VAPR$213
- MILAGRO$213
- GMK SPHERE$148
- SPHERIKA$136
- MACI$119
- HEALIX KNOTLESS PEEK$109
- Gryphon Orthocord$109
- EXPRESSEW$109
- TRUESPAN ORTHOCORD$104
- SPEEDTRAP$104
- AEQUALIS FLEX REVIVE$100
How this compares
$25,088 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 662 sports medicine 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 sports medicine in Alameda
- Neal ElattracheLos Angeles$51M
- Nathaniel CohenLos Gatos$6.4M
- Thomas KnappSanta Monica$2.5M
- Michael FreehillStanford$1.6M
- Allan MishraMenlo Park$1.5M
- Heinz Hoeneckela Jolla$1.4M
- Seth ShermanStanford$1.1M
- Stephan YacoubianBurbank$1M
- Stephen Snydervan Nuys$922K
- Deryk JonesSan Carlos$915K
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.