Karl Hurst-Wicker, MD
Interventional Pain Medicine · Chandler, AZNPI 1962698654
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $5,543 of the $8,993 with a category attached, or 61.6%. 24 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medtronic at 39.2% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $2,363 and has fallen 78.2% since, to $516 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for interventional pain medicine clinicians in AZ, where the typical reported total is $8,993.
Across 205 payments — averaging $43.87 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$4K
- Spinal Simplicity, LLC$2K
- Zavation Medical Products, LLC$1K
- Nevro Corp.$936
- Boston Scientific$425
- Vertiflex, Inc.$199
- plus $832 from 18 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$1,00011%
- Travel & lodging$97311%
- Food & beverage$5,54362%
- Education$1,45316%
- Entertainment$240%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 97 | $3,526 |
| Spinal Simplicity, LLC | 4 | $1,902 |
| Zavation Medical Products, LLC | 6 | $1,172 |
| Nevro Corp. | 23 | $936 |
| Boston Scientific | 23 | $425 |
| Vertiflex, Inc. | 6 | $199 |
| Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 9 | $146 |
| Amgen | 9 | $140 |
| Relievant Medsystems, Inc. | 2 | $63 |
| SPR Therapeutics, Inc | 2 | $56 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 3 | $56 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 3 | $54 |
| Tersera Therapeutics LLC | 4 | $47 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $37 |
| AbbVie | 2 | $33 |
| Abbott | 1 | $32 |
| Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 2 | $30 |
| Vertos Medical, Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| Flowonix Medical Incorporated | 1 | $24 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $19 |
| Olympus America Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Stratus Medical, LLC | 1 | $7 |
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.
- HA MINUTEMAN G3-R$1,875
- VANTA ADAPTIVESTIM$712
- KYPHON EXPRESS II KYPHOPAK TRAY$465
- Senza Spinal Cord Stimulation System$260
- Omnia$161
- Superion ISS$147
- INTELLIS ADAPTIVESTIM$125
- SYNCHROMED$120
- SYNCHROMEDII$118
- N/A$118
How this compares
$8,993 in reported general payments places this provider in the 50th percentile of 64 interventional pain medicine providers in Arizona.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| MovantikNaloxegol Oxalate | 13 | $5,169 |
| Pregabalin | 79 | $2,714 |
| Duloxetine Hcl | 139 | $2,657 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 68 | $2,489 |
| Lidocaine | 12 | $2,318 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 86 | $1,965 |
| Gabapentin | 72 | $1,628 |
| Baclofen | 60 | $1,620 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 64 | $1,318 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 120 | $1,271 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 40 | $1,126 |
| Nortriptyline Hcl | 35 | $691 |
| Morphine Sulfate ErMorphine Sulfate | 26 | $555 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 65 | $483 |
| Celecoxib | 19 | $362 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other interventional pain medicine in Chandler
- Lakshman GollapalliChandler$16K
- David RayChandler$14K
- Sheba ShahChandler$3K
- Paul LynchScottsdale$283K
- Jack DiepLake Havasu City$233K
- Matthew RansonMesa$86K
- Steven SiwekPhoenix$57K
- Ajay YedduGilbert$52K
- Ramoun JonesPhoenix$51K
- Lisa StearnsPhoenix$48K
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.