Fernando Vale, MD
Neurological Surgery · Augusta, GANPI 1710906052
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (49.8%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 40 manufacturers reported payments, led by Livanova USA, Inc. at 57.1% of the total.
Across 256 payments — averaging $263.30 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Livanova USA, Inc.$39K
- Integra Lifesciences Corporation$16K
- Johnson & Johnson$5K
- Medtronic$3K
- Boston Scientific$2K
- Zimmer Biomet$449
- plus $3K from 34 others
Across 7 payments — averaging $14,048 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.
- Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Development America, Inc.$59K
- Vertex$17K
- Tanabe Pharma America, Inc.$12K
- Medtronic$6K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$4K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$8,18012%
- Speaking & faculty fees$33,58850%
- Travel & lodging$16,28224%
- Food & beverage$9,32514%
- Education$310%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 81 | $38,504 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 10 | $15,787 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 4 | $4,742 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 40 | $3,014 |
| Boston Scientific | 46 | $1,651 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 6 | $449 |
| Stryker | 9 | $426 |
| 4web, Inc. | 3 | $331 |
| Abbott | 3 | $283 |
| Neuropace, Inc. | 5 | $245 |
| Novocure Inc. | 2 | $229 |
| Zap Surgical Systems, Inc. | 3 | $226 |
| Globus Medical | 3 | $147 |
| Natus Medical Incorporated | 1 | $128 |
| Medexus Pharma, Inc. | 1 | $122 |
| Aesculap, Inc. | 3 | $120 |
| Circinus Medical Technology LLC | 1 | $111 |
| Leica Microsystems Inc. | 1 | $91 |
| AstraZeneca | 4 | $78 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 4 | $77 |
| Eisai Inc. | 4 | $74 |
| Microtransponder, Inc. | 1 | $67 |
| Omniscient Neurotechnology America Ltd | 1 | $52 |
| Tanabe Pharma America, Inc. | 2 | $48 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 2 | $46 |
| CSL Behring | 1 | $35 |
| SK Life Science, Inc. | 1 | $34 |
| Amgen | 2 | $29 |
| Biogen | 1 | $28 |
| Brainlab, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $24 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $24 |
| Argenx US, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Irras USA, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
| Kuros Biosciences USA, Inc | 1 | $22 |
| Terumo BCT, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Jazz Pharmaceuticals Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC | 1 | $19 |
| Merz Pharmaceuticals, LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Hyperfine Operations, Inc. | 1 | $14 |
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.
- VNS THERAPY SENTIVA MODEL 1000 GENERATOR$24,150
- DURASEAL EXACT$15,626
- CODMAN CERTAS$15,500
- CODMAN HAKIM PRECISION VALVE$15,500
- CUSA CLARITY$15,500
- VNS Therapy$13,413
- VISTASEAL$4,680
- PERCEPT PC BRAINSENSE$1,581
- VERCISE$991
- Thinflap$351
- VNS - Sentiva$326
- SPINE TRUSS SYSTEM$294
- Oncology$229
- O-ARM-ST$137
- DURAGEN$126
- Infinity DBS Pulse Generators$125
- INFINITY$124
- Gleolan$122
- MAGEC$122
- Bolt Navigation$111
How this compares
$67,406 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 201 neurological surgery providers in Georgia.
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.
Other neurological surgery in Augusta
- Abdulaziz AlmubarakAugusta$82K
- Ildemaro VolcanAugusta$55K
- Scott RahimiAugusta$39K
- Jonathan TuttleAugusta$21K
- Luca DebsAugusta$15K
- Regis HaidAtlanta$25.5M
- John CowanRome$3.2M
- Thomas MorrisonAtlanta$2.8M
- Christopher TomarasAtlanta$1.5M
- Daniel RefaiAtlanta$1.2M
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.