Has Rick Friedman, MD received payments from drug or device companies?

Yes. Drug and device makers reported $33,976 in general payments to Rick Friedman, MD across 85 transactions between 2019–2025. Most Open Payments records nationally are meals worth under $20; a reported payment is not evidence of wrongdoing.

Does a payment mean Rick Friedman, MD did something wrong?

No. Federal law requires drug and device makers to report almost every transfer of value to a physician, including a $14 sandwich at a lunch presentation. Consulting fees, research funding and royalties to device inventors are ordinary, legal parts of medicine. This site reports what was disclosed; it makes no allegation.

Where does this information about Rick Friedman, MD come from?

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Payments come from Open Payments, published under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. Billing and prescribing figures come from the Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners and Part D Prescriber public use files for 2024.

Rick Friedman, MD

Otology & Neurotology · la Jolla, CANPI 1982708558

Payments from drug & device makers

What this record shows

This record is dominated by consulting fees: $22,766 of the $33,976 with a category attached, or 67.0%. 13 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medical Device Business Services, Inc. at 38.8% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $17,496 and has fallen 96.5% since, to $619 in 2025. Among otology & neurotology clinicians in CA 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.

$33,976in general payments, 2019–2025

Across 85 payments — averaging $399.72 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.

Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$13K
Stryker$8K
Otonomy, Inc.$6K
Depuy Synthes Products, Inc.$4K
Cochlear Americas$1K
Johnson & Johnson$784
plus $1K from 7 others

$28,791in research payments, 2019–2025

Across 1 payment — averaging $28,791 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.

Cochlear Americas$29K

What the payments were for

Royalty or licence$5,79217%
Consulting fees$22,76667%
Travel & lodging$1,6955%
Food & beverage$3,72311%
Education$10%

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
Medical Device Business Services, Inc.	16	$13,192
Stryker	11	$8,164
Otonomy, Inc.	9	$5,792
Depuy Synthes Products, Inc.	1	$3,520
Cochlear Americas	17	$1,148
Johnson & Johnson(2 entities)	14	$784
Med-el Corporation	1	$423
Advanced Bionics, LLC	4	$286
Iotamotion, Inc.	2	$219
Oticon Medical, LLC	3	$186
Baxter Healthcare	3	$134
Integra Lifesciences Corporation	3	$129
Travere Therapeutics, Inc.	1	$1

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.

MATRIXMIDFACE$14,966
MATRIXNEURO$14,966
CMF INSTRUMENTS$11,446
MODULAR HAND SYSTEM$11,446
SONOPET IQ$7,800
CORE$7,800
NA$7,040
Otiprio$3,532
VIBRANT Soundbridge Middle Ear Implant and BONEBRIDGE System$423
Cochlear Nucleus CI632 cochlear implant with Slim Modiolar electrode$411
Baha$408
OSIA OSI300 IMPLANT$293
SURGIFLO Hemostatic Matrix$286
iotaSOFT$219
Anspach Helix$124
FLOSEAL$121
N/A$119
Baha BI300 implant 4 mm$118
Cochlear Osia OSI200 Implant$118
Nucleus$115

How this compares

$33,976 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 43 otology & neurotology providers in California.

See all otology & neurotology providers in California →

Medicare billing

Part B allowed, 2024

$46,365

Medicare patients

Services billed

167

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 otology & neurotology in la Jolla

John Vaughanla Jolla$237K
Elina Karila Jolla$16K
Peter Dixonla Jolla$2K
Rodney PerkinsWoodside$125K
Courtney VoelkerLos Angeles$66K
Lloyd MinorStanford$52K
Varun VaradarajanSacramento$27K
Sumit AgrawalStanford$21K
Kevin PengLos Angeles$17K
Mia MillerLos Angeles$13K

See the full list for California →

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.

Is this you, or does something look wrong? →