Joel Saal, MD
Pain Medicine · Redwood City, CANPI 1669430104
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $3,200 of the $4,900 with a category attached, or 65.3%. SPR Therapeutics, Inc accounts for 66.4% of it on its own, with 7 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $3,794 and has fallen 99.4% since, to $24 in 2023.
Across 21 payments — averaging $233.34 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- SPR Therapeutics, Inc$3K
- Vertiflex, Inc.$885
- Stimwave Technologies Incorporated$594
- Assertio Therapeutics, Inc.$51
- Boston Scientific$49
- Relievant Medsystems, Inc.$37
- plus $30 from 2 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$3,20065%
- Travel & lodging$1,18224%
- Food & beverage$51911%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| SPR Therapeutics, Inc | 3 | $3,254 |
| Vertiflex, Inc. | 6 | $885 |
| Stimwave Technologies Incorporated | 4 | $594 |
| Assertio Therapeutics, Inc. | 3 | $51 |
| Boston Scientific | 2 | $49 |
| Relievant Medsystems, Inc. | 1 | $37 |
| Nalu Medical, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Abbott | 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.
- SPRINT PNS System$3,200
- Superion ISS$767
- StimQ Receiver Stimulator Kit Channel A US w Receiver$484
- StimQ Freedom-4A Receiver Kit Channel A US w/ Receiver$484
- StimQ Freedom 8A Receiver Kit Channel A US w Receiver$484
- Freedom 4A Receiver Kit Channel A US w Receiver$484
- Freedom 8A Receiver Kit Channel A US w Receiver$484
How this compares
$4,900 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 840 pain 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.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 172 | $3,398 |
| Gabapentin | 138 | $1,168 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 43 | $709 |
| Celecoxib | 13 | $453 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 21 | $120 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 27 | $118 |
| Prednisone | 42 | $104 |
| Nabumetone | 16 | $85 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other pain medicine in Redwood City
- Jason PopeSanta Rosa$2.1M
- Ramana NaiduLarkspur$1.4M
- Foead GeulaStudio City$1.3M
- Krishnan ChakravarthyTemecula$1.3M
- Kasra AmirdelfanWalnut Creek$783K
- Eric GrigsbyNapa$499K
- Jacqueline WeisbeinNapa$494K
- Gerald SacksSanta Monica$389K
- Samir ShethRoseville$356K
- Einar OttestadStanford$352K
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.