Nicholas Ramos, MD
Sports Medicine · Chicago, ILNPI 1386080802
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (45.2%), speaking fees and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 14 manufacturers reported payments, led by Arthrex at 57.9% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $14,583 and has fallen 80.8% since, to $2,796 in 2025.
Across 91 payments — averaging $300.80 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Arthrex$16K
- Smith+Nephew$3K
- Medwest Associates$3K
- Stryker$2K
- DJO, LLC$2K
- Lightbody Medical Technologies Inc$902
- plus $746 from 8 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$6,25023%
- Grants$1,8757%
- Travel & lodging$3,32212%
- Food & beverage$3,55713%
- Education$12,36845%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Arthrex | 35 | $15,855 |
| Smith+Nephew | 7 | $3,160 |
| Medwest Associates | 7 | $2,516 |
| Stryker | 18 | $2,318 |
| DJO, LLC | 3 | $1,875 |
| Lightbody Medical Technologies Inc | 8 | $902 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 4 | $211 |
| CGG Medical Inc | 2 | $196 |
| Oak Med, Inc. | 1 | $130 |
| Acumed LLC | 1 | $127 |
| Bioventus LLC | 2 | $37 |
| Linvatec Corporation | 1 | $17 |
| Mimedx Group, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals 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.
How this compares
$27,372 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 233 sports medicine providers in Illinois.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Celecoxib | 42 | $1,032 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 108 | $981 |
| Gabapentin | 20 | $184 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other sports medicine in Chicago
- Gregory NicholsonChicago$6.7M
- Grant GarriguesChicago$2.5M
- Brian ColeChicago$2.1M
- Brian ForsytheChicago$1.9M
- Nikhil VermaChicago$647K
- Shane NhoChicago$521K
- Vehniah TjongChicago$173K
- Aravind AthivirahamChicago$138K
- Adam YankeChicago$132K
- Nicholas TrasoliniChicago$67K
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.