Erik Lough, MD
Surgery · Austin, TXNPI 1215110440
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by education: $60,018 of the $65,541 with a category attached, or 91.6%. Intuitive Surgical accounts for 96.0% of it on its own, with 24 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $30,495 and has fallen 99.3% since, to $209 in 2025. 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 103 payments — averaging $636.32 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$63K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$906
- Johnson & Johnson$552
- Abbott$183
- Moon Surgical$171
- Medtronic$157
- plus $671 from 19 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,1642%
- Food & beverage$4,3597%
- Education$60,01892%
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 | 35 | $62,900 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 8 | $906 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 23 | $552 |
| Abbott | 2 | $183 |
| Moon Surgical | 1 | $171 |
| Medtronic | 4 | $157 |
| Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 7 | $111 |
| Covidien LP | 3 | $101 |
| Ambu Inc. | 1 | $84 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 2 | $48 |
| TELA Bio, Inc. | 2 | $41 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 2 | $39 |
| Standard Bariatrics, Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 1 | $26 |
| Dilon Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Innovation Technologies Inc | 1 | $24 |
| Asensus Surgical, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 1 | $20 |
| Merck | 1 | $18 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Kerecis Limited | 1 | $14 |
| Innocoll Pharmaceuticals Limited | 1 | $14 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $14 |
| Endogastric Solutions, Inc | 1 | $11 |
| Acell, Inc. | 1 | $11 |
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
$65,541 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Celecoxib | 55 | $244 |
| Ondansetron OdtOndansetron | 26 | $187 |
| Gabapentin | 50 | $78 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 11 | $62 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgery in Austin
- Douglas StoddardAustin$1.4M
- Steven FassAustin$989K
- Vineet ChoudhryAustin$851K
- Nancy MarquezAustin$700K
- Alejandro EsquivelAustin$631K
- Francis BuzadAustin$198K
- Francis BuckleyAustin$169K
- Eric AchesonAustin$113K
- Michael HarkinsTomball$2.7M
- Andy HawthorneRound Rock$843K
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.