John Ellington, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Charlotte, NCNPI 1588795215
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — royalties or licence payments (48.7%), other and consulting fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 47 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medshape, Inc. at 27.1% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $1,633,666 and has fallen 56.2% since, to $715,142 in 2025. Among orthopaedic surgery clinicians in NC 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 1,048 payments — averaging $4699.38 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medshape, Inc.$1.3M
- Stryker$1M
- Medline Industries LP$682K
- Depuy Synthes Products, Inc.$575K
- Arthrex$333K
- Restor3d, Inc.$294K
- plus $682K from 41 others
Across 70 payments — averaging $1091.94 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.
- Zimmer Biomet$45K
- Ferring International Pharmascience Center US$13K
- Biotissue Holdings Inc.$9K
- Stryker$9K
Across 13 payments — averaging $14,782 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- GLW, Inc$93K
- Zimmer Biomet$90K
- Curvebeam LLC$9K
- Embody, Inc.$0
What the payments were for
- Royalty or licence$2,398,83449%
- Consulting fees$827,21517%
- Speaking & faculty fees$149,9253%
- Travel & lodging$132,7473%
- Food & beverage$22,9950%
- Education$8,3000%
- Gifts$4340%
- Other$1,384,49728%
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.
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.
- ARTHREX$1,058,700
- MEDLINE UNITE$796,903
- EASYFUSE$657,502
- Polyaxial Locking Miniscrew$383,615
- MEDLINE INDUSTRIES, INC.$344,228
- FLEXBAND$295,093
- MEDLINE$273,457
- PENDING$136,729
- Dermatology and Wound Care$120,957
- AEQUALIS$100,166
- MJFS4536$96,847
- TAPESTRY$96,708
- DISTAL EXTREMITIES IMPLANTS MIDFOOT PLATES & SCREWS BIOSYNC WEDGES$94,921
- DISTAL EXTREMITIES IMPLANTS HINDFOOT & ANKLE ANKLE FUSION$94,921
- CellerateRx$91,725
- HOFFMANN$41,147
- HAMMERLOCK$37,025
- Orthopedic Kits: UNITE Kit, Distal Tibia Plating$33,375
- R&D Foot and Ankle$32,824
- CERAMENTBONE VOID FILLER$31,354
How this compares
$4,924,948 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 845 orthopaedic surgery providers in North Carolina.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Gabapentin | 26 | $196 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 16 | $73 |
| Meloxicam | 49 | $69 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Charlotte
- Thomas FehringCharlotte$18.3M
- Walter BeaverCharlotte$7.4M
- Robert AndersonCharlotte$6.6M
- John MasonCharlotte$5.7M
- William DavisCharlotte$5.2M
- Carroll JonesCharlotte$3.6M
- John MasonisCharlotte$3.4M
- Bruce CohenCharlotte$2.4M
- Anthony KwonCharlotte$1.9M
- William GriffinCharlotte$1.8M
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.