Samuel Wellman, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Durham, NCNPI 1992836837
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (47.0%), education and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 14 manufacturers reported payments, led by Zimmer Biomet at 53.3% of the total. Among orthopaedic surgery clinicians in NC 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.
Across 221 payments — averaging $731.76 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Zimmer Biomet$86K
- Total Joint Orthopedics, Inc.$54K
- Stryker$13K
- Smith+Nephew$5K
- Restor3d, Inc.$3K
- Osteocentric Technologies, Inc.$87
- plus $251 from 8 others
Across 249 payments — averaging $5045.72 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.
- Zimmer Biomet$632K
- Smith+Nephew$253K
- Medacta USA, Inc.$175K
- Stryker$173K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$24K
What the payments were for
- Royalty or licence$4,9463%
- Consulting fees$76,03847%
- Speaking & faculty fees$2,5002%
- Travel & lodging$8,2685%
- Food & beverage$7,4145%
- Education$62,31539%
- Gifts$2370%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Zimmer Biomet | 89 | $86,186 |
| Total Joint Orthopedics, Inc. | 86 | $54,483 |
| Stryker | 21 | $13,040 |
| Smith+Nephew | 8 | $5,058 |
| Restor3d, Inc. | 3 | $2,613 |
| Osteocentric Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $87 |
| Medacta USA, Inc. | 5 | $83 |
| Linkbio Corp | 1 | $73 |
| Heraeus Medical, LLC. | 2 | $27 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $20 |
| BD | 1 | $14 |
| Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Convatec Inc. | 1 | $11 |
| Polarityte, Inc. | 1 | $10 |
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.
- Avenir$64,036
- Arcos$53,940
- G7$36,790
- Journey II$12,863
- TRIATHLON$9,141
- Legion$3,413
- RESTORATION$2,625
- Echo$2,400
- Persona$2,284
- SECUR-FIT$2,125
- LEGION TKS$1,575
- TRITANIUM$1,500
- BI-METRIC HIP SYSTEM$1,200
- ACCULIF$549
- MAKO$137
- mymobility Platform$104
How this compares
$161,718 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 845 orthopaedic surgery providers in North Carolina.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Methylprednisolone | 27 | $147 |
| Meloxicam | 70 | $117 |
| Gabapentin | 12 | $59 |
| Amoxicillin | 14 | $14 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Durham
- William JiranekDurham$6.4M
- Thomas VailDurham$5.7M
- Mark EasleyDurham$4M
- Michael BolognesiDurham$2.3M
- Christopher BrownDurham$2.3M
- Samuel AdamsDurham$1.8M
- James NunleyDurham$1.6M
- James DeorioDurham$1.3M
- Richard MatherDurham$711K
- Marc RichardDurham$643K
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.