Ajit Tharakan, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Tulsa, OKNPI 1700844453
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (54.2%), food and beverage and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Intuitive Surgical accounts for 65.1% of it on its own, with 26 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $19,152 and has fallen 85.8% since, to $2,724 in 2025.
Across 208 payments — averaging $146.49 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$20K
- Abiomed$6K
- Abbott$1K
- Atricure, Inc.$581
- Clearflow Inc.$539
- Medtronic$495
- plus $2K from 21 others
Across 8 payments — averaging $798.13 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Medtronic$6K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$90%
- Speaking & faculty fees$4501%
- Travel & lodging$2,7619%
- Food & beverage$10,74235%
- Education$16,50054%
- Gifts$90%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Intuitive Surgical | 29 | $19,846 |
| Abiomed | 72 | $6,015 |
| Abbott | 11 | $1,021 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 15 | $581 |
| Clearflow Inc. | 3 | $539 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 18 | $495 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 13 | $433 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 13 | $317 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 2 | $218 |
| Elutia, Inc. | 2 | $188 |
| Silk Road Medical, Inc. | 1 | $154 |
| Davol Inc. | 5 | $129 |
| Johnson & Johnson(3 entities) | 6 | $125 |
| Galvanize Therapeutics, Inc | 1 | $55 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 3 | $49 |
| AstraZeneca | 2 | $44 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 1 | $41 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 1 | $36 |
| ERBE USA Inc | 1 | $31 |
| Surmodics, Inc. | 2 | $27 |
| Nuwellis, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Grifols USA, LLC | 1 | $21 |
| Avanos Medical | 1 | $19 |
| Hologic Sales And Service, LLC | 1 | $17 |
| Portola Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $15 |
| Z-medica, LLC | 1 | $9 |
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.
- Da Vinci Surgical System$19,560
- Impella$3,247
- THORATEC HEARTMATE 3 LVAS IMPLANT KIT$549
- Epic$316
- PleuraFlow$300
- ECM Patch,Pouch$171
- Pleuraflow System with FlowGlide$158
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Neuroprotection System$154
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Stent System$154
- ENHANCE Transcarotid Peripheral Access Kit$154
- ENROUTE 0.014 Guidewire$154
- Grafts$139
- Endurant$125
- FloTrac Sensor$109
How this compares
$30,471 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 48 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Oklahoma.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Oklahoma →
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 | 111 | $1,976 |
| Mupirocin | 102 | $866 |
| Warfarin Sodium | 39 | $172 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 11 | $112 |
| Methocarbamol | 12 | $75 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Tulsa
- Matthew CooperTulsa$1.1M
- Kelly NagasawaTulsa$46K
- Michael PhillipsTulsa$30K
- Paul KempeTulsa$18K
- John Franco CarabelloTulsa$13K
- Robert GarrettTulsa$13K
- James NeelTulsa$7K
- Shane YamaneTulsa$6K
- Kryston BoyerTulsa$4K
- David YandellTulsa$4K
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.