Michael Karns, MD
Orthopedic Surgery · Cleveland, OHNPI 1316236789
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (35.2%), speaking fees and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 10 manufacturers reported payments, led by Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation Inc. at 32.0% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $3,313 and has fallen 92.5% since, to $249 in 2025.
Across 66 payments — averaging $71.04 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation Inc.$2K
- Rock Medical Orthopedics, Inc.$1K
- Arthrex$554
- Smith+Nephew$492
- Stryker$402
- Vericel Corporation$227
- plus $147 from 4 others
Across 4 payments — averaging $19,465 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$78K
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$1,50032%
- Travel & lodging$3407%
- Food & beverage$1,64935%
- Education$1,20026%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation Inc. | 2 | $1,500 |
| Rock Medical Orthopedics, Inc. | 5 | $1,367 |
| Arthrex | 27 | $554 |
| Smith+Nephew | 11 | $492 |
| Stryker | 7 | $402 |
| Vericel Corporation | 8 | $227 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 3 | $95 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $19 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 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.
How this compares
$4,689 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 20 orthopedic surgery providers in Ohio.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Meloxicam | 22 | $42 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopedic surgery in Cleveland
- John WilberCleveland$0
- Mark BerkowitzCleveland$0
- Joseph RabeShaker Heights$36K
- Michael EbaughColumbus$27K
- Cameron CaniniColumbus$5K
- Bryan CurnutteToledo$4K
- Will BeuclerWarren$3K
- Robert LebBeachwood$2K
- Tim NiceWilloughby Hills$330
- Stephen HelperLyndhurst$122
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.