Syed Karim, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery of the Spine · Baltimore, MDNPI 1114330065
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (40.3%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Icotec Medical Inc. accounts for 65.3% of it on its own, with 10 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $6,490 and has fallen 88.0% since, to $777 in 2025.
Across 55 payments — averaging $223.59 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Icotec Medical Inc.$8K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$2K
- Cerapedics Inc.$418
- Stryker$399
- Globus Medical$390
- Medtronic$299
- plus $820 from 5 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$4,95040%
- Travel & lodging$3,87131%
- Food & beverage$3,47628%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Icotec Medical Inc. | 25 | $8,026 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 7 | $1,945 |
| Cerapedics Inc. | 3 | $418 |
| Stryker | 3 | $399 |
| Globus Medical | 2 | $390 |
| Medtronic | 3 | $299 |
| Kyocera Medical Technologies, Inc. | 2 | $217 |
| Bioventus LLC | 5 | $179 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 3 | $177 |
| Osteocentric Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $175 |
| Carbofix Orthopedics Inc | 1 | $73 |
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.
- icotec BlackArmor Spine System$6,320
- icotec Medical BlackArmor Spine Oncology System$954
- I-FACTOR PEPTIDE ENHANCED BONE GRAFT$418
- Excelsius - GPS$390
- Simplify Cervical Artificial Disc$265
- VADER PEDICLE SYSTEM 6.0, SCREW, Carbon/PEEK, POLYAX., FEN., O 5.5 X 45 MM$245
- KONG-TL VBR E, EXPANDABLE BODY, L, 19 MM X 27 - 37 MM$245
- VADER PEDICLE SYSTEM, ROD, Carbon/PEEK, CURVED, 6.0 R450 X 200 MM$245
- KONG-TL VBR, END PLATE, RECTANGULAR, M AND SCREW, 12 X 33 MM$245
- KONG-TL VBR, END PLATE, ROUND, L AND SCREW, 12 X 43 MM$245
- Vader Pedicle System$233
- OsteoCentric 4.0 x 130mm LOCKING BONE SCREW FASTENER ST$175
- GRAFTONAND GRAFTON PLUSDEMINERALIZED BONE MATRIX (DBM)$148
- SERRATO$142
- N/A$142
- CAPRI CORPECTOMY CAGE SYSTEM$130
- mild Device Kit$127
How this compares
$12,297 in reported general payments places this provider in the 55th percentile of 49 orthopaedic surgery of the spine providers in Maryland.
See all orthopaedic surgery of the spine providers in Maryland →
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.
Other orthopaedic surgery of the spine in Baltimore
- John CarboneBaltimore$25M
- Steven LudwigBaltimore$2.7M
- Paul McAfeeBaltimore$2.2M
- Amit JainBaltimore$250K
- Mesfin LemmaBaltimore$47K
- Daniel GelbBaltimore$40K
- Charles EdwardsBaltimore$17K
- Zan NaseerBaltimore$16K
- Maksim ShlykovBaltimore$14K
- David FalkBaltimore$10K
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.