Cristina Merkhofer
Hematology & Oncology · Seattle, WANPI 1649698432
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by grants: $50,000 of the $50,220 with a category attached, or 99.6%. Merck accounts for 99.7% of it on its own, with 2 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $25,000 and has fallen 99.9% since, to $24 in 2025. Among hematology & oncology clinicians in WA with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 6 payments — averaging $8370.05 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Merck$50K
- Foundation Medicine, Inc.$136
- Seagen Inc.$27
Across 1 payment — averaging $79,800 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.
- AstraZeneca$80K
What the payments were for
- Grants$50,000100%
- Food & beverage$2200%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Merck | 4 | $50,058 |
| Foundation Medicine, Inc. | 1 | $136 |
| Seagen Inc. | 1 | $27 |
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
$50,220 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 349 hematology & oncology providers in Washington.
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.
Other hematology & oncology in Seattle
- John PesandoSeattle$15.7M
- Jill JohnsenSeattle$991K
- Fengting YanSeattle$841K
- John PagelSeattle$725K
- Lawrence FongSeattle$546K
- Langdon MillerSeattle$457K
- Mazyar ShadmanSeattle$226K
- Catherine LeeSeattle$199K
- Celestia HiganoSeattle$164K
- Ryan CassadaySeattle$151K
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.