Fred Lee, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Plano, TXNPI 1275850844
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by education: $80,515 of the $92,183 with a category attached, or 87.3%. Intuitive Surgical accounts for 98.8% of it on its own, with 16 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $48,453 and has fallen 99.7% since, to $162 in 2025. Among thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in TX with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 117 payments — averaging $787.89 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$91K
- Johnson & Johnson$210
- Davol Inc.$197
- AstraZeneca$103
- Pinnacle Biologics, Inc$84
- ERBE USA Inc$82
- plus $469 from 11 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$1,5002%
- Travel & lodging$4,9105%
- Food & beverage$5,2586%
- Education$80,51587%
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 | 88 | $91,037 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 2 | $210 |
| Davol Inc. | 6 | $197 |
| AstraZeneca | 4 | $103 |
| Pinnacle Biologics, Inc | 1 | $84 |
| ERBE USA Inc | 1 | $82 |
| Lexington Medical, Inc. | 1 | $80 |
| On Target Laboratories, Inc | 1 | $80 |
| Conmed Corporation | 1 | $71 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 3 | $53 |
| Tactile Systems Technology Inc | 2 | $34 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $30 |
| Medtronic | 2 | $29 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 1 | $25 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| TELA Bio, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
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$87,399
- DAVINCI XI$3,000
- MONARCH$170
How this compares
$92,183 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 424 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Texas.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular 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.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Plano
- Gary JettPlano$277K
- William BrinkmanPlano$266K
- Katherine HarringtonPlano$182K
- Timothy GeorgePlano$146K
- Gregory MessnerPlano$112K
- Michael MackPlano$97K
- Robert SmithPlano$55K
- Faraz KerendiAustin$906K
- Robert HebelerDallas$723K
- Michael ReardonHouston$713K
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.