Tarek Shahbandar, MD
Pain Medicine · Merrillville, INNPI 1922007749
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $5,806 of the $8,383 with a category attached, or 69.3%. 35 manufacturers reported payments, led by Spinal Simplicity, LLC at 24.1% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $2,958 and has fallen 89.6% since, to $308 in 2025.
Across 263 payments — averaging $31.87 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Spinal Simplicity, LLC$2K
- Abbott$1K
- Medtronic$925
- Aurora Spine, Inc.$651
- Boston Scientific$561
- Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc.$456
- plus $3K from 29 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$96311%
- Food & beverage$5,80669%
- Education$1,61319%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Spinal Simplicity, LLC | 6 | $2,023 |
| Abbott | 32 | $1,160 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 45 | $925 |
| Aurora Spine, Inc. | 1 | $651 |
| Boston Scientific | 14 | $561 |
| Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc. | 31 | $456 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 23 | $378 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, LLC | 18 | $291 |
| Nalu Medical, Inc. | 4 | $259 |
| Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 12 | $197 |
| Vertos Medical, Inc. | 8 | $196 |
| Amgen | 8 | $166 |
| Foundation Fusion Solutions, LLC | 6 | $124 |
| Si-bone, Inc. | 3 | $104 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 6 | $98 |
| Almatica Pharma LLC | 4 | $82 |
| Supernus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 5 | $79 |
| Biodelivery Sciences International, Inc. | 5 | $69 |
| Assertio Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $65 |
| Pfizer | 4 | $64 |
| Nevro Corp. | 2 | $62 |
| Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 4 | $61 |
| Arbor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 4 | $49 |
| Redhill Biopharma Inc. | 2 | $41 |
| Azurity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 2 | $39 |
| Sentynl Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $33 |
| Shionogi Inc | 1 | $22 |
| Merck | 1 | $21 |
| Relievant Medsystems, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC | 1 | $17 |
| Electronic Waveform Lab, Inc. | 2 | $15 |
| Daiichi Sankyo Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Vertiflex, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
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.
- HA MINUTEMAN G3-R$1,760
- ZIP$651
- PROCLAIM$352
- Nalu Neurostimulation System$165
- INTELLIS ADAPTIVESTIM$149
How this compares
$8,383 in reported general payments places this provider in the 75th percentile of 128 pain medicine providers in Indiana.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| PercocetOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 24 | $113,456 |
| OxycontinOxycodone Hcl | 57 | $42,022 |
| Xtampza ErOxycodone Myristate | 28 | $28,784 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 615 | $18,391 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 763 | $17,023 |
| BelbucaBuprenorphine Hcl | 28 | $14,245 |
| Fentanyl | 70 | $10,789 |
| Lidocaine | 111 | $9,162 |
| MovantikNaloxegol Oxalate | 21 | $8,497 |
| Buprenorphine | 44 | $7,735 |
| Pregabalin | 250 | $6,091 |
| Gabapentin | 343 | $3,755 |
| Morphine Sulfate ErMorphine Sulfate | 100 | $2,863 |
| Naloxone Hcl | 47 | $2,645 |
| Methadone Hcl | 60 | $2,124 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc.Xtampza Er, Belbuca | $456 | $43,02956 claims |
| Redhill Biopharma Inc.Movantik | $41 | $8,49721 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 75th percentile of 128 pain medicine providers in Indiana.
Other pain medicine in Merrillville
- Derron WilsonCarmel$616K
- Kevin MacadaegCarmel$337K
- Andrew TrobridgeMuncie$253K
- Meredith LanghorstFishers$233K
- Abhishek DasMishawaka$186K
- Rajiv TewariFishers$140K
- John SwoffordIndianapolis$127K
- Neal ColemanMuncie$38K
- Matthew DevriesLafayette$37K
- Amer KaziGranger$34K
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.