Peter Shorten, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery of the Spine · Grand Junction, CONPI 1902223043
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (59.1%), travel and lodging and gifts — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Nexus Spine, LLC accounts for 73.0% of it on its own, with 8 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $5,300 and has fallen 77.1% since, to $1,214 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for orthopaedic surgery of the spine clinicians in CO, where the typical reported total is $28,402.
Across 28 payments — averaging $298.91 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Nexus Spine, LLC$6K
- Alliance Medical$950
- Synthes GmbH$805
- Arthrex$205
- Spinal Elements, Inc.$169
- Cerapedics Inc.$69
- plus $64 from 3 others
Across 4 payments — averaging $78,898 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- Cg&b, LLC$316K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$4,95059%
- Travel & lodging$1,67120%
- Food & beverage$7339%
- Gifts$90711%
- Entertainment$1091%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nexus Spine, LLC | 11 | $6,107 |
| Alliance Medical | 5 | $950 |
| Synthes GmbH | 1 | $805 |
| Arthrex | 3 | $205 |
| Spinal Elements, Inc. | 2 | $169 |
| Cerapedics Inc. | 2 | $69 |
| MML US, Inc. | 2 | $36 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $16 |
| Radius Health, Inc. | 1 | $13 |
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.
- PressOn$5,767
- Medical Device$115
How this compares
$8,370 in reported general payments places this provider in the 30th percentile of 69 orthopaedic surgery of the spine providers in Colorado.
See all orthopaedic surgery of the spine providers in Colorado →
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pregabalin | 56 | $669 |
| Gabapentin | 57 | $633 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 52 | $296 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 26 | $64 |
| Alprazolam | 12 | $6 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery of the spine in Grand Junction
- Kirk CliffordGrand Junction$47K
- George FreyDenver$5.3M
- Christopher CainAurora$3.3M
- Edward DonnerJohnstown$2.5M
- Jim YoussefDurango$2.3M
- Scott StanleyParker$1.7M
- Timothy KukloDenver$1.3M
- Michael GallizziLone Tree$1.2M
- Douglas BeardFort Collins$583K
- Robert BenzFort Collins$581K
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.