Ernesto Otero Lopez, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Albuquerque, NMNPI 1538391669
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (30.7%), speaking fees and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Globus Medical accounts for 70.2% of it on its own, with 18 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2022 at $25,660 and has fallen 99.3% since, to $174 in 2025. Among orthopaedic surgery clinicians in NM 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 325 payments — averaging $152.54 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Globus Medical$35K
- Alphatec Spine, Inc$10K
- Zimmer Biomet$1K
- Zimvie Inc.$1K
- Arthrex$663
- Alliance Medical$320
- plus $1K from 13 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$15,20031%
- Speaking & faculty fees$13,80028%
- Travel & lodging$9,82320%
- Food & beverage$10,65421%
- Entertainment$1000%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Globus Medical(2 entities) | 85 | $34,815 |
| Alphatec Spine, Inc | 143 | $10,096 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 12 | $1,217 |
| Zimvie Inc. | 14 | $1,114 |
| Arthrex | 6 | $663 |
| Alliance Medical | 4 | $320 |
| Electronic Waveform Lab, Inc. | 22 | $298 |
| DJO, LLC | 22 | $251 |
| Highridge Medical LLC | 2 | $224 |
| Cerapedics Inc. | 4 | $157 |
| Stryker | 2 | $144 |
| Nevro Corp. | 1 | $106 |
| Si-bone, Inc. | 2 | $40 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $31 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $30 |
| Aesculap, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $17 |
| Merck | 1 | $16 |
| Life Spine, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
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.
- CREO$12,457
- Excelsius - GPS$10,503
- Excelsius Robotics System$8,708
- Other - Miscellaneous$2,682
- Mobi-C$1,622
- CREO 5.5$574
- CALIBER$440
- NextGen Headless Screws$400
- INVICTUS OPEN$237
- Spine-None$215
- 3D Printed Cervical Interbody$148
- Hedron C$145
- ExcelsiusGPS Robotic Navigation System$122
- Trinica Anterior Lumbar Plate$118
- ES2$106
- Omnia$106
- I-FACTOR PEPTIDE ENHANCED BONE GRAFT$102
How this compares
$49,577 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 107 orthopaedic surgery providers in New Mexico.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Gabapentin | 43 | $432 |
| Baclofen | 37 | $330 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Albuquerque
- Deana MercerAlbuquerque$901K
- David ChafeyAlbuquerque$108K
- Heather MenzerAlbuquerque$61K
- Rick GehlertAlbuquerque$46K
- Jeffrey BeckenbaughAlbuquerque$46K
- Matthew WhartonAlbuquerque$22K
- Jeffrey RaccaAlbuquerque$20K
- Michael ArchibeckAlbuquerque$19K
- Samer KakishAlbuquerque$15K
- Matthew BrownAlbuquerque$11K
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.