James Smith, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Gadsden, ALNPI 1053409060
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $6,400 of the $7,310 with a category attached, or 87.6%. Choice Spine, LLC accounts for 81.0% of it on its own, with 9 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $2,572 and has fallen 97.6% since, to $61 in 2025.
Across 19 payments — averaging $384.74 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Choice Spine, LLC$6K
- Adcura, Inc.$572
- Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc.$562
- Boston Scientific$113
- Medacta USA, Inc.$55
- Surgical Specialties Corporation (US), Inc. (dba Corza Medical)$32
- plus $55 from 4 others
Across 5 payments — averaging $537,701 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- Adcura, Inc.$2.7M
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$6,40088%
- Travel & lodging$5047%
- Food & beverage$4066%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Choice Spine, LLC | 4 | $5,922 |
| Adcura, Inc. | 2 | $572 |
| Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc. | 2 | $562 |
| Boston Scientific | 5 | $113 |
| Medacta USA, Inc. | 1 | $55 |
| Surgical Specialties Corporation (US), Inc. (dba Corza Medical) | 1 | $32 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $17 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 1 | $13 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $12 |
| AbbVie | 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.
- Raven Lumbar Plate System$2,000
- Tiger Shark System$2,000
- Raven Lateral$1,900
- Sagittae$504
- SlMMETRY$500
How this compares
$7,310 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 319 orthopaedic surgery providers in Alabama.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Meloxicam | 507 | $2,265 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 455 | $1,632 |
| Gabapentin | 109 | $1,132 |
| Methylprednisolone | 97 | $834 |
| Celecoxib | 31 | $725 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 82 | $703 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 47 | $600 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 135 | $508 |
| Diclofenac Sodium ErDiclofenac Sodium | 17 | $411 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 83 | $338 |
| Sulfamethoxazole-TrimethoprimSulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim | 61 | $330 |
| Ketorolac Tromethamine | 23 | $307 |
| Pregabalin | 20 | $219 |
| Methocarbamol | 41 | $195 |
| Ciprofloxacin Hcl | 27 | $146 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Gadsden
- Jeffrey DugasBirmingham$11.5M
- Benton EmblomBirmingham$3M
- Herrick SiegelBirmingham$1.2M
- Paul CanaleDaphne$609K
- Kenneth MooreBirmingham$342K
- Joseph SherrillBirmingham$221K
- Jonathan QuadeBirmingham$217K
- Lawrence LemakVestavia$216K
- Ginger BryantBirmingham$209K
- Marcus RothermichBirmingham$207K
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.