Lauren Wessel, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Los Angeles, CANPI 1184018095
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (48.8%), grants and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 14 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medartis Inc. at 48.8% of the total.
Across 50 payments — averaging $759.24 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medartis Inc.$19K
- Arthrex$14K
- Stryker$3K
- Elite Orthopedics, LLC$2K
- Bone Support Inc.$228
- Axogen$176
- plus $457 from 8 others
Across 1 payment — averaging $119,560 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.
- Medartis Inc.$120K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$18,50949%
- Speaking & faculty fees$500%
- Grants$10,00026%
- Travel & lodging$3,6019%
- Food & beverage$1,4854%
- Education$4,31711%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medartis Inc. | 1 | $18,509 |
| Arthrex | 22 | $14,094 |
| Stryker | 9 | $2,526 |
| Elite Orthopedics, LLC | 4 | $1,972 |
| Bone Support Inc. | 2 | $228 |
| Axogen | 3 | $176 |
| Skeletal Dynamics Inc | 2 | $123 |
| Onkos Surgical, Inc. | 1 | $101 |
| Saxum Surgical, Inc. | 1 | $91 |
| Trice Medical, Inc. | 1 | $50 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $37 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $22 |
| Dynasplint Systems Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Acera Surgical, 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.
- APTUS$18,509
- MAKO$2,081
- GMRS$351
- CERAMENTBONE VOID FILLER$140
- AVANCE NERVE GRAFT$118
- ELEOS LIMB SALVAGE SYSTEM$101
How this compares
$37,962 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th 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.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Los Angeles
- Kelly VinceLos Angeles$9.6M
- Jay LiebermanLos Angeles$4.8M
- Thomas SchmalzriedLos Angeles$4M
- David SkaggsLos Angeles$2.6M
- David ThordarsonLos Angeles$2.5M
- Edward McPhersonLos Angeles$1.2M
- Daniel AllisonLos Angeles$1.1M
- Justin SalimanLos Angeles$912K
- Charles MoonLos Angeles$760K
- Andrew SpitzerLos Angeles$738K
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.