Sundararaj Cherala, MD
Interventional Pain Medicine · Decatur, ILNPI 1689698359
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 62 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 21 manufacturers reported payments, led by Nevro Corp. at 30.9% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $459 and has fallen 96.6% since, to $16 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for interventional pain medicine clinicians in IL, where the typical reported total is $2,254.
Across 62 payments — averaging $20.46 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Nevro Corp.$392
- AbbVie$200
- Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc.$140
- Electronic Waveform Lab, Inc.$77
- Pacira Therapeutics, Inc.$58
- Tersera Therapeutics LLC$51
- plus $351 from 15 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,269100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nevro Corp. | 17 | $392 |
| AbbVie | 4 | $200 |
| Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 9 | $140 |
| Electronic Waveform Lab, Inc. | 1 | $77 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $58 |
| Tersera Therapeutics LLC | 3 | $51 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 2 | $44 |
| Fidia Pharma USA Inc. | 8 | $43 |
| Sentynl Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $34 |
| Zyla Life Sciences, Inc. | 2 | $30 |
| Si-bone, Inc. | 1 | $29 |
| Shionogi Inc | 2 | $29 |
| Trice Medical, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 1 | $20 |
| Vertiflex, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $16 |
| SPR Therapeutics, Inc | 1 | $15 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $15 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $12 |
| Amgen | 1 | $11 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $11 |
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
$1,269 in reported general payments places this provider in the 40th percentile of 93 interventional pain medicine providers in Illinois.
See all interventional pain medicine providers in Illinois →
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 108 | $3,481 |
| Fentanyl | 25 | $2,641 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 140 | $1,973 |
| Gabapentin | 157 | $1,597 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 212 | $1,362 |
| Meloxicam | 381 | $1,292 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 34 | $1,062 |
| Morphine Sulfate ErMorphine Sulfate | 21 | $899 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 66 | $712 |
| Pregabalin | 32 | $594 |
| Butalbital-Aspirin-CaffeineButalbital/Aspirin/Caffeine | 11 | $497 |
| Tizanidine Hcl | 46 | $478 |
| Hydromorphone Hcl | 20 | $311 |
| Celecoxib | 20 | $291 |
| Naproxen | 16 | $252 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other interventional pain medicine in Decatur
- John FurryDecatur$1K
- Alexander FeoktistovNorthfield$922K
- Timothy LubenowChicago$556K
- Sandeep AminChicago$430K
- Matthew JaycoxChicago$123K
- Hong VoChicago$91K
- Asokumar BuvanendranChicago$52K
- Ramsin BenyaminBloomington$32K
- Adam YoungChicago$29K
- Salman SagarwalaChicago$26K
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.