Ernesto Soltero
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Ponce, PRNPI 1114077021
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 234 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 23 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 20.9% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations.
Across 234 payments — averaging $34.89 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Edwards Lifesciences$2K
- Boston Scientific$1K
- Johnson & Johnson$947
- Atricure, Inc.$561
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$531
- Amgen$501
- plus $3K from 17 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$8,163100%
Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Edwards Lifesciences | 67 | $1,705 |
| Boston Scientific | 38 | $1,341 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 34 | $947 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 9 | $561 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 7 | $531 |
| Amgen | 10 | $501 |
| Abbott | 9 | $492 |
| Medtronic | 12 | $479 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 5 | $337 |
| PBG Puerto Rico LLC | 13 | $236 |
| AstraZeneca | 8 | $201 |
| Merck | 4 | $147 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 5 | $142 |
| Bayer | 1 | $119 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 1 | $97 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $89 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 1 | $75 |
| Johnson And Johnson International | 3 | $49 |
| Novartis | 2 | $39 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Bayer Puerto Rico Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Scpharmaceuticals 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.
- WATCHMAN FLX$471
- AVEIR$272
- JARDIANCE$225
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra Transcatheter Heart Valve$139
- ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION SYSTEM$125
- SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM$125
- ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM (CRYO2)$125
- EMBLEM MRI S-ICD$125
- GENERAL - THERAPIES$120
- Kerendia$119
- ELIQUIS$103
- Repatha$103
- AURORA EV-ICD MRI SURESCAN$102
- LifeVest$100
How this compares
$8,163 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 23 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Puerto Rico.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Puerto Rico →
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Amiodarone Hcl | 29 | $355 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Ponce
- Alberto Maldonado MolinaPonce$84K
- Eugenio Mulero PortelaPonce$7K
- Javier Ruiz AburtoPonce$1K
- Javier Castillo-GraneroBayamon$113K
- Juan HernandezSan Juan$24K
- Elizardo Matos-CruzSan Juan$23K
- Ivan GonzalezSan Juan$20K
- Alex Cedeno RodriguezSan Juan$9K
- Orlando Lopez de VictoriaSan Juan$6K
- Francisco Melendez QuinonesSan Juan$5K
Where these figures come from
- Payments: CMS Open Payments, program years 2019–2025 (publication P06302026_06032026).
- Identity: NPPES NPI Registry, July 2026.