Nathaniel Schuster, MD
Pain Medicine · San Diego, CANPI 1861781205
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (54.9%), consulting fees and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 26 manufacturers reported payments, led by Lilly USA, LLC at 36.6% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $96,860 and has fallen 73.4% since, to $25,808 in 2025. Among pain medicine 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 511 payments — averaging $658.67 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Lilly USA, LLC$123K
- Averitas Pharma Inc.$63K
- GRT US Holding, Inc.$59K
- Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc.$58K
- Vertex$17K
- H. Lundbeck A S$6K
- plus $10K from 20 others
Across 2 payments — averaging $14,910 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.
- Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc.$15K
- Purdue Pharma L.p.$15K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$90,64227%
- Speaking & faculty fees$184,64055%
- Grants$850%
- Travel & lodging$52,24616%
- Food & beverage$8,9623%
- Education$80%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Lilly USA, LLC | 165 | $123,181 |
| Averitas Pharma Inc. | 150 | $63,033 |
| GRT US Holding, Inc. | 122 | $58,749 |
| Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 1 | $58,350 |
| Vertex | 18 | $17,498 |
| H. Lundbeck A S | 4 | $6,023 |
| Eli Lilly | 1 | $3,000 |
| Axsome Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $1,853 |
| Lundbeck LLC | 1 | $1,750 |
| Boston Scientific | 11 | $692 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 5 | $485 |
| SPR Therapeutics, Inc | 6 | $398 |
| Nevro Corp. | 5 | $369 |
| Abbott | 2 | $161 |
| Merz Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $159 |
| Medtronic | 5 | $153 |
| Spinal Simplicity, LLC | 1 | $127 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $125 |
| Vertos Medical, Inc. | 1 | $124 |
| Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $113 |
| Avanos Medical | 3 | $78 |
| Tonix Medicines, Inc. | 1 | $77 |
| Relievant Medsystems, Inc. | 1 | $40 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Nalu Medical, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Tenex Health 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.
- Qutenza$117,646
- EMGALITY$67,664
- XTAMPZA$58,350
- BELBUCA$58,350
- Nucynta$58,350
- REYVOW$37,188
- VYEPTI$7,683
- Symbravo$1,813
- JOURNAVX$290
- Omnia$251
- XEOMIN$159
- HA MINUTEMAN G3-R$127
- NURTEC ODT$125
- mild Device Kit$124
- ZTLido$113
- SUPERION$109
- SPRINT PNS System$105
How this compares
$336,582 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 840 pain medicine 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Emgality PenGalcanezumab-Gnlm | 27 | $20,175 |
| Emgality SyringeGalcanezumab-Gnlm | 11 | $16,839 |
| RizatriptanRizatriptan Benzoate | 13 | $137 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other pain medicine in San Diego
- Mark WallaceSan Diego$221K
- Gemayel LeeSan Diego$131K
- Jessica OswaldSan Diego$90K
- Zachary CohenSan Diego$36K
- Joel CastellanosSan Diego$30K
- David HillerSan Diego$30K
- Seth KatzenSan Diego$29K
- Jason PopeSanta Rosa$2.1M
- Ramana NaiduLarkspur$1.4M
- Foead GeulaStudio City$1.3M
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.