Benjamin Kulow, MD
Colon & Rectal Surgery · Kansas City, MONPI 1063855898
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (34.7%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Intuitive Surgical accounts for 68.3% of it on its own, with 9 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $2,495 and has fallen 92.5% since, to $188 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for colon & rectal surgery clinicians in MO, where the typical reported total is $4,503.
Across 29 payments — averaging $106.13 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$2K
- Stryker$327
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$141
- AbbVie$119
- Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated$102
- Zimmer Biomet$101
- plus $185 from 4 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,01633%
- Food & beverage$99432%
- Education$1,06835%
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 | 17 | $2,103 |
| Stryker | 3 | $327 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 2 | $141 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $119 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $102 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $101 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $83 |
| AstraZeneca | 1 | $68 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Covidien LP | 1 | $16 |
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.
How this compares
$3,078 in reported general payments places this provider in the 45th percentile of 36 colon & rectal surgery providers in Missouri.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| LoperamideLoperamide Hcl | 12 | $518 |
| Neomycin Sulfate | 61 | $366 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 40 | $215 |
| Amoxicillin-Clavulanate PotassAmoxicillin/Potassium Clav | 15 | $205 |
| Metronidazole | 60 | $175 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 15 | $110 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 29 | $59 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other colon & rectal surgery in Kansas City
- Robert AmajoyiKansas City$56K
- Lawrence MendelowSaint Louis$234K
- Paul WiseSaint Louis$24K
- Donald SummersSaint Louis$22K
- Steven HuntSaint Louis$17K
- Tatiana Ramirez DominguezSaint Louis$12K
- Eric LedermanSaint Louis$11K
- Rafael Figueroa DugarteFarmington$10K
- Patrick ChizekSaint Louis$8K
- Alyssa WaitSaint Louis$6K
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.