Has Erick Montero, MD received payments from drug or device companies?

Yes. Drug and device makers reported $14,886 in general payments to Erick Montero, MD across 77 transactions between 2019–2025. Most Open Payments records nationally are meals worth under $20; a reported payment is not evidence of wrongdoing.

Does a payment mean Erick Montero, MD did something wrong?

No. Federal law requires drug and device makers to report almost every transfer of value to a physician, including a $14 sandwich at a lunch presentation. Consulting fees, research funding and royalties to device inventors are ordinary, legal parts of medicine. This site reports what was disclosed; it makes no allegation.

Where does this information about Erick Montero, MD come from?

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Payments come from Open Payments, published under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. Billing and prescribing figures come from the Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners and Part D Prescriber public use files for 2024.

Erick Montero, MD

Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Laguna Hills, CANPI 1033439005

Payments from drug & device makers

$14,886in general payments, 2019–2025

Across 77 payments — averaging $193.33 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.

Atricure, Inc.$13K
Abbott$771
Boston Scientific$299
Abiomed$280
Edwards Lifesciences$109
Medtronic$66
plus $15 from 1 others

What the payments were for

Consulting fees$4,50030%
Travel & lodging$5,84839%
Food & beverage$4,50830%
Education$300%

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
Atricure, Inc.	55	$13,346
Abbott	8	$771
Boston Scientific	4	$299
Abiomed	2	$280
Edwards Lifesciences	4	$109
Medtronic	3	$66
Intuitive Surgical	1	$15

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.

EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYSTEM WITH VISITRAX$7,289
SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM$3,832
ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION SYSTEM$2,702
ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM (CRYO2)$1,490
DISSECTOR$484
Impella$280
Mitra Clip system$141
MitraClip$132
WATCHMAN FLX$129
Epic Stented Tissue Valve$107
ISOLATOR SURGICAL ABLATION SYSTEM$105
LOTUS EDGE$103
AMPLATZER Occluders$100

How this compares

$14,886 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 546 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in California.

See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in California →

Medicare billing

Part B allowed, 2024

$164,207

Medicare patients

144

Services billed

307

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 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Laguna Hills

Asad ShahLaguna Hills$198K
Ledford PowellLaguna Hills$151K
Timothy LeeLaguna Hills$132K
Thomas FogartyPortola Valley$3.7M
Steven GundryPalm Springs$1.6M
Gregory FontanaThousand Oaks$1.4M
Gansevoort DunningtonSaint Helena$963K
Armin KiankhooySaint Helena$941K
Ara KlijianMurrieta$916K
Fernando FleischmanLos Angeles$901K

See the full list for California →

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.

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