Stephen Paulus, MD
Pain Medicine · Little Rock, ARNPI 1093942252
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $62,964 of the $74,948 with a category attached, or 84.0%. Boston Scientific accounts for 80.4% of it on its own, with 9 other manufacturers making up the rest. Among pain medicine clinicians in AR 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 217 payments — averaging $345.38 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Boston Scientific$60K
- Relievant Medsystems, Inc.$14K
- Abbott$195
- Amgen$116
- Vertos Medical, Inc.$66
- Pfizer$47
- plus $91 from 4 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$8001%
- Speaking & faculty fees$62,96484%
- Travel & lodging$6,8309%
- Food & beverage$4,3546%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Scientific | 146 | $60,285 |
| Relievant Medsystems, Inc. | 54 | $14,148 |
| Abbott | 2 | $195 |
| Amgen(2 entities) | 7 | $116 |
| Vertos Medical, Inc. | 1 | $66 |
| Pfizer | 3 | $47 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $33 |
| SPR Therapeutics, Inc | 1 | $21 |
| Stryker | 1 | $19 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
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.
- Intracept$84,349
- WaveWriter Alpha Prime 16$810
- ETERNA$172
- GENERAL - THERAPIES$124
How this compares
$74,948 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 53 pain medicine providers in Arkansas.
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 | 142 | $3,051 |
| Gabapentin | 278 | $2,794 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 141 | $1,422 |
| Duloxetine Hcl | 95 | $900 |
| Pregabalin | 12 | $466 |
| Baclofen | 43 | $367 |
| Nabumetone | 19 | $366 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 43 | $352 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 42 | $321 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 16 | $247 |
| Amitriptyline Hcl | 36 | $198 |
| Methylprednisolone | 21 | $152 |
| Cyclobenzaprine Hcl | 12 | $118 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 27 | $80 |
| Prednisone | 12 | $41 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other pain medicine in Little Rock
- Julio OlayaLittle Rock$22K
- Christopher MocekLittle Rock$10K
- Ann IkonneLittle Rock$8K
- Saint AdeogbaLittle Rock$6K
- Andrew CainLittle Rock$5K
- Krishnappa PrasadLittle Rock$5K
- Thomas HartLittle Rock$4K
- James CaldwellLittle Rock$4K
- Terry FletcherLittle Rock$3K
- Drew BeasleyLittle Rock$3K
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.