Joseph Roland Frenette, MD
Pain Medicine · Birmingham, ALNPI 1336175439
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $5,996 of the $7,265 with a category attached, or 82.5%. It is spread thinly across 36 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 17.5% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $2,428 and has fallen 82.8% since, to $418 in 2025.
Across 384 payments — averaging $18.92 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Flowonix Medical Incorporated$1K
- Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC$1K
- Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc.$1K
- Indivior Inc.$537
- Amgen$368
- Abbott$306
- plus $3K from 30 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$5,99683%
- Gifts$00%
- Entertainment$1,26917%
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.
| Company | Payments | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Flowonix Medical Incorporated | 1 | $1,269 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 119 | $1,264 |
| Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 61 | $1,012 |
| Indivior Inc. | 27 | $537 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 27 | $368 |
| Abbott | 18 | $306 |
| Braeburn Inc. | 11 | $256 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 15 | $250 |
| Orexo US, Inc. | 9 | $184 |
| Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 11 | $171 |
| Forte Bio-pharma LLC | 1 | $163 |
| Pfizer | 8 | $138 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 7 | $133 |
| Almatica Pharma LLC | 6 | $118 |
| Boston Scientific | 7 | $113 |
| Nevro Corp. | 5 | $111 |
| GRT US Holding, Inc. | 8 | $88 |
| Novartis | 5 | $86 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 5 | $70 |
| Redhill Biopharma Inc. | 3 | $70 |
| Sentynl Therapeutics, Inc. | 5 | $64 |
| Atland Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $55 |
| IBSA Pharma Inc. | 3 | $55 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 3 | $54 |
| Biodelivery Sciences International, Inc. | 3 | $53 |
| SPR Therapeutics, Inc | 1 | $47 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. | 2 | $42 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 3 | $37 |
| Assertio Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $30 |
| Globus Medical | 1 | $28 |
| Vertos Medical, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $19 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $17 |
| Kaleo, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA | 1 | $13 |
| Si-bone, Inc. | 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.
- Prometra II$1,269
- Prolate$490
- Nalocet$163
How this compares
$7,265 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 77 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Buprenorphine-NaloxoneBuprenorphine Hcl/Naloxone Hcl | 235 | $50,821 |
| SublocadeBuprenorphine | 15 | $29,628 |
| ZubsolvBuprenorphine Hcl/Naloxone Hcl | 27 | $18,429 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 411 | $10,069 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 433 | $9,516 |
| Xtampza ErOxycodone Myristate | 14 | $9,264 |
| Buprenorphine | 26 | $6,538 |
| MovantikNaloxegol Oxalate | 11 | $5,305 |
| Gabapentin | 236 | $3,615 |
| Buprenorphine Hcl | 47 | $2,725 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 166 | $2,003 |
| Pregabalin | 126 | $1,994 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 108 | $1,960 |
| Lidocaine | 18 | $1,322 |
| Ibuprofen | 84 | $1,164 |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hikma Pharmaceuticals USABuprenorphine-Naloxone, Buprenorphine, Buprenorphine Hcl | $13 | $60,085308 claims |
| Indivior Inc.Sublocade | $537 | $29,62815 claims |
| Orexo US, Inc.Zubsolv | $184 | $18,42927 claims |
| Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc.Xtampza Er | $171 | $9,26414 claims |
| Redhill Biopharma Inc.Movantik | $70 | $5,30511 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 80th percentile of 77 pain medicine providers in Alabama.
Other pain medicine in Birmingham
- Christopher PaulBirmingham$64K
- Brandon BrooksBirmingham$5K
- Jason NoltBirmingham$4K
- Lisa HumphriesBirmingham$3K
- Edwin KelseyBirmingham$2K
- Charles CarnelBirmingham$2K
- Chad AustinBirmingham$1K
- Kara BurnsBirmingham$1K
- Kyle GlasserBirmingham$1K
- Lisa ColumbiaBirmingham$400
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.