Simon Chao, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · North Easton, MANPI 1144481532
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — royalties or licence payments (56.7%), consulting fees and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 48 manufacturers reported payments, led by Republic Spine at 56.2% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $501,435, 5.1 times the $97,682 reported in 2019. Among orthopaedic surgery clinicians in MA 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 481 payments — averaging $3248.31 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Republic Spine$878K
- Osseus Fusion Systems, LLC$287K
- Life Spine, Inc.$83K
- Surgentec$72K
- Captiva Spine Inc$53K
- Spinal Elements, Inc.$30K
- plus $159K from 42 others
Across 1 payment — averaging $25,000 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.
- Sanara Medtech Inc.$25K
Across 7 payments — averaging $37.73 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- Spineology Inc.$264
What the payments were for
- Royalty or licence$885,27957%
- Consulting fees$607,28539%
- Speaking & faculty fees$20,8891%
- Travel & lodging$17,0191%
- Food & beverage$28,5892%
- Education$3,3750%
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.
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.
- POSTERIOR CERVICAL$243,310
- Dark Star$212,377
- Dark Star MIS$102,811
- Dark Star Pedicle Screw System$80,208
- Expandable Interbody System$75,083
- EquiLOX$42,924
- Osteoflo$37,288
- FlareHawk$35,270
- CENTRIC - T RETRACTOR$29,823
- Hydroputty$28,622
- KARMA$26,000
- Dyna-Link Ti Barbs$22,736
- Magellan$21,501
- ProLift$20,572
- iFuse Implant$17,962
- ProLift Micro$14,855
- ProLift Lateral Helo$14,666
- SURE-LOK PERCUTANEOUS PEDICLE SCREW SYSTEM$14,608
- ProLift Lateral Fixated$13,573
- ProLift Micro Tube Access$11,760
How this compares
$1,562,436 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 542 orthopaedic surgery providers in Massachusetts.
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 | 240 | $1,864 |
| Gabapentin | 37 | $414 |
| Duloxetine Hcl | 15 | $267 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 18 | $210 |
| Mupirocin | 14 | $82 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in North Easton
- Jason FanueleNorth Easton$227K
- Paul TornettaBoston$16.3M
- Thomas ThornhillBoston$12M
- Stephen MurphyRoxbury Crossing$8M
- Andrew FreibergBoston$5.9M
- Jon WarnerBoston$5.4M
- Wolfgang FitzBoston$3.7M
- Brian KwonWaltham$1.9M
- Scott SigmanNorth Chelmsford$1.4M
- Michael LangworthyNorth Dartmouth$715K
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.