Nicolas Lee, MD
Hand Surgery · San Francisco, CANPI 1124279203
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (50.5%), travel and lodging and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 20 manufacturers reported payments, led by Axogen at 34.3% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $5,424 and has fallen 54.9% since, to $2,449 in 2025.
Across 102 payments — averaging $164.82 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Axogen$6K
- Evolution Surgical, Inc$3K
- Globus Medical$2K
- Trimed, Inc.$1K
- Stryker$1K
- Checkpoint Surgical, Inc$937
- plus $3K from 14 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$5853%
- Travel & lodging$4,51227%
- Food & beverage$8,49751%
- Education$3,21819%
Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Axogen | 44 | $5,772 |
| Evolution Surgical, Inc | 8 | $3,447 |
| Globus Medical | 4 | $1,643 |
| Trimed, Inc. | 4 | $1,278 |
| Stryker | 10 | $1,105 |
| Checkpoint Surgical, Inc | 4 | $937 |
| Synthes USA Products LLC | 1 | $585 |
| Alafair Biosciences, Inc. | 5 | $551 |
| FX Shoulder Solutions, Inc | 1 | $288 |
| Acumed LLC | 4 | $254 |
| Skeletal Dynamics Inc | 4 | $231 |
| Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation Inc. | 1 | $174 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 3 | $144 |
| Smith+Nephew | 3 | $104 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $101 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 1 | $63 |
| Acell, Inc. | 1 | $50 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $38 |
| Biocircuit Technologies Inc | 1 | $24 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $23 |
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.
- AVANCE NERVE GRAFT$3,284
- AxoGuard Nerve Connector$1,531
- AxoGuard Nerve Protector$1,531
- Proximal Humerus Plate$1,394
- Tools - WFS$1,094
- Checkpoint Stimulators$915
- VARIAX$883
- VersaWrap$447
- INTEGRA$300
- Anthem$236
- AXOGUARD HA+ NERVE PROTECTOR$194
- AxoGuard Nerve Cap$194
- Geminus$151
- Align$151
- IJS$151
- Implate$151
- PROFYLE$125
- GAMMA$116
- Acutrak Headless Compression Screw System$109
- BME NITINOL CONTINUOUS COMPRESSION IMPLANTS$101
How this compares
$16,812 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 249 hand 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 hand surgery in San Francisco
- Igor ImmermanSan Francisco$15K
- Nicole SchroederSan Francisco$11K
- Steven ShinLos Angeles$2.8M
- Amy LaddStanford$1.4M
- Emilie CheungStanford$1.1M
- Andrew HartmanOceanside$957K
- Nancy LynchSan Mateo$862K
- Jeffrey YaoRedwood City$622K
- Prosper BenhaimLos Angeles$492K
- Wayne PanOakland$423K
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.