John Irons, MD
Interventional Pain Medicine · Vestavia, ALNPI 1578822904
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $17,778 of the $21,647 with a category attached, or 82.1%. It is spread thinly across 49 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 23.9% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Among interventional pain medicine clinicians in AL with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 595 payments — averaging $36.38 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$5K
- Nevro Corp.$5K
- Abbott$2K
- Spinal Simplicity, LLC$1K
- Bioventus LLC$1K
- MML US, Inc.$1K
- plus $6K from 43 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$3,85118%
- Food & beverage$17,77882%
- Education$170%
Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.
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.
- Senza Spinal Cord Stimulation System$2,104
- INTELLIS ADAPTIVESTIM$1,705
- Stimrouter Implantable Kit$1,353
- Omnia$1,235
- HA MINUTEMAN G3-R$1,125
- INTELLIS$1,114
- PROCLAIM$712
- ReActiv8$552
- SYNCHROMEDII$232
- Proclaim IPG$230
- Senza$209
- INCEPTIV$145
- DuraSorb Monofilament Mesh$130
- Senza II$116
How this compares
$21,647 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 33 interventional pain medicine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 6,249 | $137,459 |
| Buprenorphine | 418 | $104,479 |
| Lidocaine | 410 | $95,202 |
| BelbucaBuprenorphine Hcl | 147 | $94,545 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 3,391 | $87,316 |
| ZtlidoLidocaine | 75 | $75,130 |
| Xtampza ErOxycodone Myristate | 103 | $59,217 |
| Gabapentin | 3,357 | $52,586 |
| UbrelvyUbrogepant | 37 | $49,881 |
| Buprenorphine-NaloxoneBuprenorphine Hcl/Naloxone Hcl | 257 | $39,988 |
| OxycontinOxycodone Hcl | 65 | $33,063 |
| Pregabalin | 1,542 | $31,156 |
| MovantikNaloxegol Oxalate | 47 | $20,490 |
| Aimovig AutoinjectorErenumab-Aooe | 23 | $17,255 |
| Nurtec OdtRimegepant Sulfate | 13 | $16,673 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc.Belbuca, Xtampza Er, Nucynta | $500 | $163,020263 claims |
| Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc.Ztlido | $579 | $75,13075 claims |
| AbbVieUbrelvy | $857 | $49,88137 claims |
| PfizerNurtec Odt | $313 | $16,67313 claims |
| Orexo US, Inc.Zubsolv | $35 | $15,64413 claims |
| Upsher-smith Laboratories LLCTopiramate | $24 | $1,31945 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 90th percentile of 33 interventional pain medicine providers in Alabama.
Other interventional pain medicine in Vestavia
- Michael KendrickBirmingham$90K
- Bradley WargoMuscle Shoals$41K
- Jacob VellaMontgomery$28K
- Richard WebbFoley$18K
- Ryan AlmeidaBirmingham$14K
- Roberto ChangHoover$13K
- Bradley KatzMontgomery$12K
- Thomas MartinHoover$11K
- David HerrickMontgomery$9K
- Aaron ShinklePrattville$9K
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.