Karl Schultz, MD
Neurological Surgery · Gainesville, GANPI 1558344507
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (47.0%), travel and lodging and consulting fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Spineology Inc. accounts for 64.2% of it on its own, with 35 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $21,714 and has fallen 92.0% since, to $1,742 in 2025.
Across 134 payments — averaging $352.80 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Spineology Inc.$30K
- Medacta USA, Inc.$9K
- Globus Medical$5K
- Spine Wave, Inc.$311
- Medtronic$248
- Centinel Spine, LLC$235
- plus $3K from 30 others
Across 7 payments — averaging $4144.13 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- Spineology Inc.$29K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$6,53014%
- Speaking & faculty fees$22,21547%
- Travel & lodging$13,56129%
- Food & beverage$4,79210%
- Education$1770%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Spineology Inc. | 9 | $30,339 |
| Medacta USA, Inc. | 24 | $8,834 |
| Globus Medical(2 entities) | 19 | $4,710 |
| Spine Wave, Inc. | 12 | $311 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 9 | $248 |
| Centinel Spine, LLC | 2 | $235 |
| Aesculap Implant Systems, LLC | 2 | $223 |
| Johnson & Johnson(3 entities) | 5 | $208 |
| Si-bone, Inc. | 7 | $192 |
| Cerapedics Inc. | 1 | $161 |
| Xtant Medical Inc | 2 | $155 |
| Intrinsic Therapeutics | 1 | $143 |
| AstraZeneca | 5 | $142 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 1 | $137 |
| Icotec Medical Inc. | 1 | $128 |
| Nexxt Spine LLC | 1 | $125 |
| Nevro Corp. | 3 | $108 |
| Spineguard, Inc. | 1 | $100 |
| Stryker | 2 | $88 |
| Sanara Medtech Inc. | 2 | $86 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 1 | $84 |
| Brainlab, Inc. | 1 | $80 |
| Abbott | 4 | $78 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 4 | $69 |
| Boston Scientific | 3 | $68 |
| Surgalign Spine Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $32 |
| Life Spine, Inc. | 2 | $31 |
| Kyocera Medical Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $21 |
| Azurity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 1 | $20 |
| Portola Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $20 |
| Olympus America Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $14 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $13 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $11 |
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.
- OPTIMESH EXPANDABLE INTERBODY FUSION SYSTEM$22,215
- MYSPINE$8,263
- OptiMesh Graft Containment$7,454
- TLIF$1,992
- ALIF$1,139
- Excelsius - GPS$1,013
- Rampart One Interbody Fusion System$500
- PRODISC L$235
- ACTIVL ARTIFICIAL DISC$223
- MUST$163
- I-FACTOR PEPTIDE ENHANCED BONE GRAFT$161
- XLIF$156
- Barricaid Annular Closure Device$143
- icotec Medical BlackArmor Spine Oncology System$128
- Senza$127
- Cervical Matrixx System$125
- Matrixx Corpectomy$125
- Struxxure System$125
- STRATAFIX$113
- ETHICON$113
How this compares
$47,275 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 201 neurological surgery providers in Georgia.
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 | 103 | $1,830 |
| Pregabalin | 62 | $1,127 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 117 | $1,110 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 166 | $1,092 |
| Oxcarbazepine | 14 | $867 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 55 | $557 |
| Mupirocin | 80 | $493 |
| Methocarbamol | 52 | $417 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 37 | $148 |
| Acetaminophen-CodeineAcetaminophen With Codeine | 14 | $111 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 17 | $94 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other neurological surgery in Gainesville
- Betsy GrunchGainesville$1.1M
- Zain BoghaniGainesville$101K
- Regis HaidAtlanta$25.5M
- John CowanRome$3.2M
- Thomas MorrisonAtlanta$2.8M
- Christopher TomarasAtlanta$1.5M
- Daniel RefaiAtlanta$1.2M
- Gerald RodtsAtlanta$1.2M
- James RobinsonAtlanta$993K
- Michele JohnsonAtlanta$540K
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.