Ari Kramer, MD
Surgery · Spartanburg, SCNPI 1073577698
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (54.4%), consulting fees and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 24 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medtronic at 55.6% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $200,468, more than ten times the $19,991 reported in 2019. Among surgery clinicians in SC with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 529 payments — averaging $949.41 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$279K
- Venturemed Group, Inc.$125K
- Merit Medical Systems Inc$44K
- Sonavex, Inc.$19K
- Mozarc Medical US LLC$15K
- Covidien LP$13K
- plus $8K from 18 others
Across 50 payments — averaging $7920.93 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.
- Venturemed Group, Inc.$156K
- Medtronic$150K
- Phraxis, Inc.$84K
- Sonavex, Inc.$6K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$146,59829%
- Speaking & faculty fees$273,18454%
- Travel & lodging$57,61011%
- Food & beverage$22,8485%
- Education$1,9590%
- Gifts$390%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 405 | $279,087 |
| Venturemed Group, Inc. | 28 | $125,406 |
| Merit Medical Systems Inc | 6 | $43,540 |
| Sonavex, Inc. | 2 | $18,800 |
| Mozarc Medical US LLC | 21 | $14,577 |
| Covidien LP | 16 | $12,709 |
| AV Medical Technologies Ltd. | 4 | $2,532 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 13 | $1,437 |
| Boston Scientific | 9 | $1,343 |
| Phraxis, Inc. | 2 | $802 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 3 | $608 |
| Avenu Medical Inc. | 2 | $428 |
| Stryker | 1 | $167 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 4 | $156 |
| Haemonetics Corporation | 2 | $150 |
| Organogenesis Inc. | 1 | $147 |
| Laminate Medical Technologies Inc. | 1 | $100 |
| Masimo Corporation | 1 | $75 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 3 | $58 |
| Cagent Vascular Inc | 1 | $45 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 1 | $24 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 1 | $21 |
| GE HealthCare | 1 | $14 |
| Philips North America LLC | 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.
- ELLIPSYS VASCULAR ACCESS SYSTEM$147,544
- FLEX Vessel Prep System$125,102
- IN.PACT AV$62,295
- Ellipsys$31,285
- EchoMark$18,800
- EchoSure$18,800
- IN.PACT Admiral$16,818
- PTA HIGH PRESSURE BALLOON DILATATION CATHETER$12,607
- Argyle$12,449
- Chameleon$8,187
- Palindrome$3,523
- TurboHawk$1,552
- GENERAL - THERAPIES$1,162
- GORE VIABAHN Endoprosthesis with Heparin$912
- FLOWTRIEVER CATHETER, S$608
- CT THROMBECTOMY SYSTEM KIT$608
- GORE VIABAHN Endoprosthesis$267
- INTHRILL THROMBECTOMY CATHETER$167
- Carpediem$166
- Ellipsys System$153
How this compares
$502,237 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 553 surgery providers in South Carolina.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 122 | $230 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 29 | $51 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgery in Spartanburg
- Jason JohnsonSpartanburg$27K
- Chitharanjan PullattranaCharleston$408K
- John ScottGreenville$242K
- Jason CundiffGreenville$235K
- Steven KahnCharleston$197K
- John KramerPawleys Island$194K
- William CobbGreenville$159K
- Steven LauzonSumter$143K
- Shanu KothariGreenville$122K
- Charles MitchellMoncks Corner$87K
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.