Richard Thunder, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery of the Spine · la Jolla, CANPI 1780602276
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $3,201 of the $3,856 with a category attached, or 83.0%. Globus Medical accounts for 73.1% of it on its own, with 9 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $1,553 and has fallen 86.7% since, to $206 in 2024. That places this record below the midpoint for orthopaedic surgery of the spine clinicians in CA, where the typical reported total is $17,657.
Across 67 payments — averaging $57.56 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Globus Medical$3K
- Davol Inc.$500
- Stryker$215
- Biotissue Holdings Inc.$135
- Pacira Therapeutics, Inc.$59
- Smith+Nephew$43
- plus $87 from 4 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$50013%
- Travel & lodging$1384%
- Food & beverage$3,20183%
- Education$170%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Globus Medical(2 entities) | 46 | $2,818 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $500 |
| Stryker | 9 | $215 |
| Biotissue Holdings Inc. | 1 | $135 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 3 | $59 |
| Smith+Nephew | 2 | $43 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 2 | $43 |
| Trevena, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Elevate Surgical Co | 1 | $14 |
| Endo Pharmaceuticals 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.
How this compares
$3,856 in reported general payments places this provider in the 30th percentile of 288 orthopaedic surgery of the spine providers in California.
See all orthopaedic surgery of the spine 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.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Celecoxib | 45 | $1,640 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 53 | $527 |
| Ibuprofen | 54 | $362 |
| Gabapentin | 49 | $361 |
| Meloxicam | 49 | $281 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 51 | $250 |
| Acetaminophen-CodeineAcetaminophen With Codeine | 22 | $168 |
| Methylprednisolone | 21 | $136 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 66 | $116 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 17 | $104 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 19 | $101 |
| Pregabalin | 14 | $95 |
| Amoxicillin | 18 | $48 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery of the spine in la Jolla
- Gregory Mundisla Jolla$3.3M
- Hyun BaeSanta Monica$56.8M
- Choll KimSan Diego$4M
- Stacey BedermanOrange$3.7M
- Paul SlosarDaly City$3.1M
- Babak Barcohanavan Nuys$2.9M
- Neelakantan AnandLos Angeles$2.9M
- Sanjay KhuranaMarina del Rey$2.3M
- Neville AlleyneOceanside$2.2M
- Rick DelamarterSanta Monica$2.2M
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.