Erik Askenasy, MD
Colon & Rectal Surgery · Houston, TXNPI 1780813295
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (59.2%), speaking fees and consulting fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Intuitive Surgical accounts for 83.8% of it on its own, with 37 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $34,310 and has fallen 59.0% since, to $14,059 in 2025. Among colon & rectal 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 266 payments — averaging $533.91 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$119K
- Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated$9K
- Virtual Incision Corporation$7K
- Covidien LP$2K
- Conmed Corporation$800
- THD America, Inc.$440
- plus $4K from 32 others
Across 2 payments — averaging $56,000 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.
- AbbVie$112K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$15,33111%
- Speaking & faculty fees$21,20015%
- Travel & lodging$10,7688%
- Food & beverage$10,6517%
- Education$84,07059%
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 | 134 | $119,063 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 8 | $9,428 |
| Virtual Incision Corporation | 20 | $6,693 |
| Covidien LP | 11 | $1,930 |
| Conmed Corporation | 1 | $800 |
| THD America, Inc. | 4 | $440 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 7 | $371 |
| TELA Bio, Inc. | 3 | $279 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 13 | $275 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 6 | $251 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 7 | $238 |
| BD | 2 | $231 |
| Biom'up SA | 1 | $196 |
| Boston Scientific | 3 | $192 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 5 | $150 |
| Shire North American Group Inc | 3 | $146 |
| Romark Laboratories, LC | 2 | $145 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $140 |
| Convatec Inc. | 3 | $140 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $134 |
| Baudax Bio Inc. | 6 | $119 |
| Vertex | 1 | $110 |
| Stryker | 1 | $106 |
| Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. | 5 | $104 |
| Hollister Incorporated | 2 | $50 |
| Medline Industries LP | 1 | $37 |
| AbbVie | 2 | $36 |
| Nestle Healthcare Nutrition Inc. | 2 | $31 |
| Axonics, Inc. | 2 | $24 |
| Wound Management Technologies, Inc | 1 | $24 |
| Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Innovation Technologies Inc | 1 | $23 |
| Braintree Laboratories, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Alcresta Therapeutics, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Acell, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Kerecis Limited | 1 | $13 |
| Merck | 1 | $12 |
| Coopersurgical, 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$117,451
- EXPAREL$9,278
- Mira!$6,131
- EEA$1,200
- PIONEER/RANGER$800
- DA VINCI SP$250
- PerClot$237
- HemoSphere$202
- HEMOBLAST$196
- OviTex Reinforced Bioscaffold With Permanent Polymer (OviTex)$168
- ARISTA AH FLEXITIP$140
- ClearSight System$134
- SURGIMEND$115
- ECHELON FLEX Stapler$114
- Echelon Powered Circular$114
- Surgicel Powder$114
- JOURNAVX$110
- RESOLUTION CLIP$106
- 1588 HD 3 CHIP CAMERA$106
- GATTEX$106
How this compares
$142,020 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 200 colon & rectal 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sod Sulf-Potass Sulf-Mag SulfSodium, Potassium,mag Sulfates | 104 | $6,463 |
| Neomycin Sulfate | 29 | $154 |
| Methocarbamol | 34 | $151 |
| Amoxicillin-Clavulanate PotassAmoxicillin/Potassium Clav | 16 | $102 |
| Gabapentin | 29 | $82 |
| Metronidazole | 38 | $78 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 23 | $50 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other colon & rectal surgery in Houston
- Diego Marines CopadoHouston$462K
- Eric HaasHouston$140K
- Theodoros VoloyiannisHouston$100K
- Scott McKnightHouston$73K
- Tsuyoshi KonishiHouston$68K
- Jean-Paul LefaveHouston$47K
- George ChangHouston$31K
- Michael SnyderHouston$24K
- Marianne CusickHouston$22K
- Joshua CourseyHouston$13K
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.