Azael Arizpe, MD
Sports Medicine · Houston, TXNPI 1518491588
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (34.9%), food and beverage and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 15 manufacturers reported payments, led by Stryker at 24.3% of the total.
Across 207 payments — averaging $126.20 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Stryker$6K
- Arthrex$6K
- Smith+Nephew$6K
- Medinc Of Texas$5K
- Pylant Medical$2K
- Zimmer Biomet$361
- plus $1K from 9 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$9,10935%
- Food & beverage$8,51633%
- Education$8,50033%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Stryker | 63 | $6,360 |
| Arthrex | 62 | $6,194 |
| Smith+Nephew | 29 | $5,694 |
| Medinc Of Texas | 9 | $4,945 |
| Pylant Medical | 24 | $1,503 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 3 | $361 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 4 | $290 |
| Exactech, Inc. | 1 | $171 |
| Bioventus LLC | 4 | $137 |
| Vericel Corporation | 2 | $136 |
| Curonix LLC | 1 | $110 |
| Linvatec Corporation | 1 | $107 |
| Biocomposites Inc | 2 | $76 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $22 |
| Solventum Corporation | 1 | $19 |
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.
- MAKO$2,692
- MICRORAPTOR$2,234
- BLUEPRINT PATIENT SPECIFIC INSTRUMENTATION$1,428
- Bone Anchors with Arthroscopic Delivery System$1,354
- Q-FIX$1,228
- Bioinductive Implant with Arthroscopic Delivery System - Medium$882
- Healicoil$432
- PROCINCH$355
- T2$327
- CINCHLOCK$175
- CROSSFIRE$175
- ICONIX$175
- EQUINOXE$171
- TRIATHLON$160
- Acufex$149
- MULTIFIX$149
- TRUESPAN ORTHOCORD$147
- SPATIAL FRAME$142
- ROSA$141
- INSIGNIA$139
How this compares
$26,124 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 437 sports medicine providers in Texas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Celecoxib | 121 | $3,683 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 55 | $322 |
| Ondansetron Hcl | 58 | $262 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 20 | $61 |
| Meloxicam | 12 | $13 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other sports medicine in Houston
- Walter LoweHouston$1.4M
- James GregoryHouston$565K
- Robert FullickHouston$137K
- Patrick McCullochHouston$136K
- Joshua HarrisHouston$109K
- Mark AdickesHouston$35K
- Mufaddal GomberaHouston$33K
- Robert FlanneryHouston$27K
- David BrownHouston$27K
- Ankur MehtaHouston$26K
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.