Nicholas Wills, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery of the Spine · Eagan, MNNPI 1548306202
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $216,063 of the $240,924 with a category attached, or 89.7%. 13 manufacturers reported payments, led by Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated at 41.8% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $81,567 and has fallen 93.6% since, to $5,215 in 2025. Among orthopaedic surgery of the spine clinicians in MN with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 474 payments — averaging $508.28 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated$101K
- Zimmer Biomet$77K
- Zimvie Inc.$34K
- Highridge Medical LLC$14K
- Medtronic$7K
- Arthrex$6K
- plus $920 from 7 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$216,06390%
- Speaking & faculty fees$4,6502%
- Travel & lodging$13,0625%
- Food & beverage$7,1493%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 7 | $100,600 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 124 | $77,438 |
| Zimvie Inc. | 59 | $34,474 |
| Highridge Medical LLC | 25 | $14,331 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 233 | $7,242 |
| Arthrex | 12 | $5,919 |
| Spineart USA Inc | 5 | $323 |
| Gemini Medical LLC | 3 | $280 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 1 | $161 |
| Choice Spine, LLC | 1 | $73 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $40 |
| Foundation Medical, LLC | 1 | $23 |
| Globus Medical | 1 | $21 |
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.
- Mobi-C$109,482
- EXPAREL$100,600
- MOBI-C PLUG & FIT US$13,617
- ROI-C$11,325
- Maxan Cervical System$9,225
- Walter$7,425
- Virage$7,425
- CD HORIZON SPINAL SYSTEM$2,438
- Timberline$914
- MAZOR X SYSTEM$650
- INFUSE$626
- The Tether$530
- UNID_PASS$174
- M6-C Artificial Cervical Disc$161
- PRESTIGE$159
- CATALYFT PL EXPANDABLE INTERBODY SYSTEM$151
How this compares
$240,924 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 39 orthopaedic surgery of the spine providers in Minnesota.
See all orthopaedic surgery of the spine providers in Minnesota →
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 | 22 | $184 |
| Methylprednisolone | 26 | $182 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery of the spine in Eagan
- Eiman ShafaMinneapolis$570K
- Glenn ButtermannRoseville$259K
- Tenner GuillaumeSaint Paul$163K
- Benjamin MuellerFridley$89K
- Michael SmithEdina$43K
- Nathan WandermanWoodbury$42K
- Nathan HendricksonMinneapolis$34K
- Todd JackmanEdina$30K
- John ShermanEdina$28K
- Adam GreenBlaine$26K
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.