Diego Ramos Valadez, MD
Surgery · El Paso, TXNPI 1710246053
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (48.0%), education and travel and lodging — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Davol Inc. accounts for 61.5% of it on its own, with 17 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $117,911, more than ten times the $87 reported in 2020. Among surgery clinicians in TX 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 430 payments — averaging $483.02 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Davol Inc.$128K
- Intuitive Surgical$68K
- BD$4K
- Medtronic$2K
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$2K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$2K
- plus $2K from 12 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$99,63048%
- Travel & lodging$40,51420%
- Food & beverage$13,5327%
- Education$54,00026%
- Gifts$220%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Davol Inc. | 219 | $127,715 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 118 | $68,194 |
| BD | 28 | $3,962 |
| Medtronic | 18 | $2,036 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 12 | $1,976 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 8 | $1,672 |
| Globus Medical | 6 | $1,058 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 3 | $291 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 6 | $255 |
| C. R. Bard, Inc. & Subsidiaries | 1 | $153 |
| Endogastric Solutions, Inc | 2 | $123 |
| Acera Surgical, Inc. | 1 | $110 |
| TELA Bio, Inc. | 3 | $41 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| Ardelyx, Inc. | 1 | $26 |
| KCI USA, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Madrigal Pharmaceuticals | 1 | $20 |
| Salix Pharmaceuticals, A Division Of Bausch Health US, 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.
- Da Vinci Surgical System$35,244
- DAVINCI XI$31,000
- Phasix Mesh$24,553
- GORE BIO-A Tissue Reinforcement$1,399
- AbsorbaTack$1,141
- ALIF$945
- INTEGRA$432
- ProGrip$274
- Enseal$248
- OMNIGRAFT$144
- INTEGRA DERMAL REGENERATION TEMPLATE$144
- GORE SEAMGUARD Bioabsorbable Staple Line Reinforce$142
- SURGIMEND$136
- Echelon Flex$119
- Restrata Wound Matrix$110
How this compares
$207,698 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 1,830 surgery 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Peg-3350 And ElectrolytesPeg3350/Sod Sulf,bicarb,cl/Kcl | 15 | $268 |
| Peg 3350-ElectrolyteSodium Chloride/Nahco3/Kcl/Peg | 11 | $197 |
| Methocarbamol | 25 | $179 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgery in El Paso
- Benjamin ClappEl Paso$91K
- Michael HarkinsTomball$2.7M
- Douglas StoddardAustin$1.4M
- Steven FassAustin$989K
- Vineet ChoudhryAustin$851K
- Andy HawthorneRound Rock$843K
- Nancy MarquezAustin$700K
- Sachin KukrejaDallas$640K
- Alejandro EsquivelAustin$631K
- Erik WilsonBellaire$610K
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.