David Merkle
Surgical · Fort Myers, FLNPI 1144704800
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $4,556 of the $5,582 with a category attached, or 81.6%. It is spread thinly across 25 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 19.9% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $1,362 and has fallen 82.3% since, to $241 in 2025. Among surgical clinicians in FL 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 85 payments — averaging $65.67 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$1K
- Boston Scientific$1K
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$965
- Silk Road Medical, Inc.$838
- Penumbra, Inc.$531
- Inari Medical, Inc.$256
- plus $869 from 19 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$77614%
- Food & beverage$4,55682%
- Education$2504%
Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.
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 | 9 | $1,113 |
| Boston Scientific | 15 | $1,010 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 19 | $965 |
| Silk Road Medical, Inc. | 9 | $838 |
| Penumbra, Inc. | 5 | $531 |
| Inari Medical, Inc. | 4 | $256 |
| Aroa Biosurgery Incorporated | 1 | $254 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 2 | $102 |
| Acell, Inc. | 1 | $72 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 2 | $65 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $50 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 3 | $46 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 1 | $44 |
| Innocoll Pharmaceuticals Limited | 2 | $42 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 1 | $31 |
| Distalmotion US | 1 | $24 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Cardinal Health 200 LLC | 1 | $19 |
| KCI USA, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Solventum Corporation | 1 | $15 |
| Merck | 1 | $15 |
| Cordis US CORP. | 1 | $13 |
| Organogenesis Inc. | 1 | $12 |
| Checkpoint Surgical, Inc | 1 | $12 |
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$791
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Neuroprotection System$661
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Stent$505
- EKOSONIC$264
- ANGIOJET$247
- Indigo System$237
- EXCLUDER Conformable AAA Endoprosthesis with Active Control$224
- FLOWTRIEVER CATHETER, S$190
- CT THROMBECTOMY SYSTEM KIT$190
- GORE EXCLUDER AAA Endoprosthesis$188
- ENROUTE Enflate Transcarotid RX Balloon Dilatation Catheter$156
- GORE EXCLUDER Iliac Branch Endoprosthesis$135
- Penumbra System$124
- AngioJet Ultra 5000A$119
How this compares
$5,582 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 1,018 surgical providers in Florida.
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 surgical in Fort Myers
- Joseph DeilyFort Myers$52K
- Aleisha ThearleFort Myers$7K
- Paige BishopFort Myers$5K
- Aaron SookhooBrandon$742K
- Jessica McCarrySt Petersburg$445K
- Harmony ChurchTallahassee$265K
- Pamela LiggettMiami$120K
- Stephanie CarrollPalm Beach Gardens$114K
- Christina NauglePalm Beach Gardens$96K
- Kathleen McMichaelClearwater$96K
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.