Julia Lee, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Fresno, CANPI 1437444759
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $282,435 of the $458,019 with a category attached, or 61.7%. Arthrex accounts for 93.8% of it on its own, with 14 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $201,727, more than ten times the $5,651 reported in 2019. Among orthopaedic surgery clinicians in CA 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 689 payments — averaging $664.76 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Arthrex$430K
- Stryker$19K
- Sequoia Surgical, Inc.$5K
- Cornerstone Medical Associates, Inc.$3K
- Shoulder Innovations, Inc.$720
- Zimmer Biomet$239
- plus $671 from 9 others
Across 4 payments — averaging $1482.50 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.
- Arthrex$6K
Across 2 payments — averaging $62,500 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- Lazurite Inc.$125K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$101,30022%
- Speaking & faculty fees$282,43562%
- Travel & lodging$47,18810%
- Food & beverage$16,5384%
- Education$9,8562%
- Gifts$7020%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Arthrex | 580 | $429,648 |
| Stryker(2 entities) | 50 | $18,684 |
| Sequoia Surgical, Inc. | 17 | $5,398 |
| Cornerstone Medical Associates, Inc. | 24 | $2,658 |
| Shoulder Innovations, Inc. | 3 | $720 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 4 | $239 |
| Smith+Nephew | 3 | $209 |
| Steelhead Surgical Inc | 1 | $132 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $98 |
| Saxum Surgical, Inc. | 1 | $82 |
| Axogen | 1 | $55 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $31 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $26 |
| Convatec Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $14 |
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.
- BLUEPRINT PATIENT SPECIFIC INSTRUMENTATION$6,718
- AEQUALIS PERFORM REVERSED$5,712
- AEQUALIS PERFORM$4,727
- TORNIER PERFORM REVERSED GLENOID$4,000
- AEQUALIS ASCEND FLEX$3,560
- AEQUALIS$3,400
- TORNIER PERFORM ANATOMIC AUGMENTED GLENOID$2,400
- TORNIER PERFORM REVERSED AUGMENTED GLENOID$2,400
- BLUEPRINT PSI SYSTEM$1,256
- Ascend Flex$702
- ARTHROPLASTY INSTRUMENTS VIP TECHNOLOGY VIP 5D$700
- InSet System$641
- ARTHREX$543
- SHOULDER IMPLANTS ROTATOR CUFF CUFFMEND$413
- AUGMENT INJECTABLE$160
- AXSOS$160
- VARIAX$160
- HOFFMANN$160
- GAMMA$160
- AETOS Shoulder System$149
How this compares
$458,019 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 1,808 orthopaedic surgery 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Celecoxib | 22 | $603 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 12 | $69 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Fresno
- Connor TellesFresno$1M
- Bradford HackArcadia$18.3M
- Robert GorabOrange$13.6M
- Kelly VinceLos Angeles$9.6M
- Stephen HowellSacramento$9.4M
- Thomas CoonRed Bluff$9.2M
- Nirav AminPlacentia$5.6M
- Tom NorrisSan Francisco$5.3M
- Jay LiebermanLos Angeles$4.8M
- Peter NewtonSan Diego$4.2M
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.