Richard Chua, MD
Neurological Surgery · Tucson, AZNPI 1356334528
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $1,077,089 of the $1,285,920 with a category attached, or 83.8%. Medtronic accounts for 99.8% of it on its own, with 18 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $337,249 and has fallen 64.0% since, to $121,341 in 2025. Among neurological surgery clinicians in AZ 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 1,022 payments — averaging $1258.24 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$1.3M
- Globus Medical$657
- Orthofix Medical, Inc.$366
- Stryker$278
- Arteriocyte Medical Systems, Inc.$169
- Medacta USA, Inc.$139
- plus $813 from 13 others
Across 11 payments — averaging $4510.36 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.
- Medtronic$50K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$95,0967%
- Speaking & faculty fees$1,077,08984%
- Travel & lodging$92,9367%
- Food & beverage$20,7992%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 987 | $1,283,499 |
| Globus Medical(2 entities) | 6 | $657 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 5 | $366 |
| Stryker | 3 | $278 |
| Arteriocyte Medical Systems, Inc. | 1 | $169 |
| Medacta USA, Inc. | 1 | $139 |
| Si-bone, Inc. | 1 | $114 |
| Brainlab, Inc. | 1 | $104 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $103 |
| Providence Medical Technology, Inc. | 3 | $102 |
| Spineology Inc. | 1 | $81 |
| Carlsmed, Inc. | 1 | $63 |
| Abbott | 3 | $57 |
| Augmedics Inc. | 2 | $47 |
| Nevro Corp. | 2 | $40 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $36 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $22 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 1 | $20 |
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.
- MAZOR X SYSTEM$389,742
- Mazor X Stealth Edition$233,895
- MazorX - Renaissance$130,835
- ZEVO$50,759
- PRESTIGE$46,321
- PIVOX Oblique Lateral Spinal System$45,568
- O-ARM$37,706
- CD HORIZON SPINAL SYSTEM$27,938
- CRESCENT$24,650
- UNID_PASS$22,882
- CD HORIZON$20,922
- STEALTHSTATION S8 PLATFORM$15,237
- StealthStation$11,280
- CLYDESDALE$9,570
- Stealth Autoguide$7,500
- POWEREASE$6,943
- UNIBODY$5,625
- ZEVO ANTERIOR CERVICAL PLATE SYSTEM$4,500
- METRX SYSTEM$4,500
- VERTEX$4,350
How this compares
$1,285,920 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 173 neurological surgery providers in Arizona.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oxycodone Hcl | 55 | $394 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 23 | $356 |
| Gabapentin | 17 | $329 |
| Methocarbamol | 36 | $292 |
| Methylprednisolone | 15 | $103 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 15 | $58 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other neurological surgery in Tucson
- Li-Mei LinTucson$653K
- Ryan KretzerTucson$402K
- Julie PilitsisTucson$165K
- Paul LarsonTucson$96K
- Ibrahim AlhalalTucson$53K
- Timothy PuttyTucson$39K
- Ryan AustermanTucson$37K
- Kirsty HamiltonTucson$37K
- Arunit ChughTucson$14K
- Robert SpetzlerPhoenix$12.8M
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.