Gregory Couper, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Boston, MANPI 1063462588
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (41.0%), speaking fees and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Abbott accounts for 60.8% of it on its own, with 8 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $5,355 and has fallen 96.2% since, to $202 in 2025.
Across 24 payments — averaging $329.89 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$5K
- Medtronic$2K
- Transmedics, Inc.$439
- Paragonix Technologies, Inc.$334
- Cvrx, Inc.$82
- Pfizer$69
- plus $73 from 3 others
Across 25 payments — averaging $3295.92 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.
- Transmedics, Inc.$51K
- Abbott$32K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$3,25041%
- Speaking & faculty fees$2,10027%
- Travel & lodging$1,22515%
- Food & beverage$1,34217%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 14 | $4,815 |
| Medtronic | 2 | $2,105 |
| Transmedics, Inc. | 1 | $439 |
| Paragonix Technologies, Inc. | 1 | $334 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 1 | $82 |
| Pfizer | 2 | $69 |
| Actelion Pharmaceuticals US, Inc. | 1 | $27 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 1 | $23 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 1 | $23 |
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.
- HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Dev$3,250
- HeartWare HVAD$2,100
- THORATEC HEARTMATE 3 LVAS IMPLANT KIT$1,295
- ORGAN CARE SYSTEM$439
- SherpaPak$334
- LIVERguard$334
- LUNGguard$334
- BaroGuard$334
- PancreasPak$334
How this compares
$7,917 in reported general payments places this provider in the 60th percentile of 171 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Massachusetts.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Massachusetts →
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 Boston
- Lana Schumacher BealBoston$254K
- Sidney LevitskyBoston$248K
- Robert ThurerBoston$229K
- Margaret MarshallBoston$122K
- Pedro del NidoBoston$119K
- Akinobu ItohBoston$102K
- Amy HackmannBoston$80K
- Nathaniel LangerBoston$79K
- David DalessandroBoston$77K
- Joren MadsenBoston$65K
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.