Care Atlas

CMS Open Payments · 2024

Dr. Christopher Shaffrey

Neurological Surgery · DURHAM, NC · NPI 1235208877

Many doctors share a name — check the specialty and city above match your doctor before you read this as theirs.

$556,519 reported by drug & device companies in 2024 · 130 payments

Not all payments mean the same thing. Split apart:

$116,715
Promotional

Meals, speaking fees, travel, consulting — money from companies marketing their products. This is the relationship to weigh against a recommendation. For this doctor it is substantial.

$439,804
Royalty / ownership

Income for a device or method the doctor invented or owns — large for some surgeons, and not a conflict over what to prescribe you.

This is well above what most doctors receive in promotional payments — a relationship worth being aware of when weighing a recommendation.

Largest paying companies

The companies that paid this doctor the most in 2024 — each company's full total (promotional + research + royalty), from CMS's separate by-company report, so these may not add up to the split above.

SI-BONE, Inc. $262,811
Globus Medical, Inc. $169,086
Medtronic, Inc. $123,706
Carlsmed, Inc. $228
Medical Device Business Services, Inc. $206

What the payments were for

Royalty or license $439,804Consulting fees $70,667Speaking / services (non-CE) $32,450Travel & lodging $8,137Food & beverage $5,460

What this is — and is not

This is the public record companies are required by law to report (the Sunshine Act). A disclosed payment is a financial relationship — it is not proof of wrongdoing, and not evidence that it changed your care. Many payments are entirely legitimate (research, royalties for inventions, education). The point is transparency: you get to know, and to ask. It is not a rating of Dr. Christopher Shaffrey.

Also available: structured data · plain text. Verify at CMS Open Payments (NPI 1235208877).