Hector Melendez-Gonzalez, MD
Infectious Disease · Caguas, PRNPI 1861819021
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $3,234 of the $4,296 with a category attached, or 75.3%. 16 manufacturers reported payments, led by Merck at 38.2% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $1,980 and has fallen 64.5% since, to $703 in 2025.
Across 93 payments — averaging $46.20 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Merck$2K
- AbbVie$685
- Viiv Healthcare Company$416
- Johnson & Johnson$382
- Shionogi Inc$290
- Gilead$199
- plus $682 from 10 others
Across 4 payments — averaging $17,969 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.
- Merck$72K
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$94522%
- Food & beverage$3,23475%
- Education$1173%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Merck | 21 | $1,643 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 25 | $685 |
| Viiv Healthcare Company | 10 | $416 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 13 | $382 |
| Shionogi Inc | 4 | $290 |
| Gilead | 4 | $199 |
| Valneva USA, Inc. | 1 | $184 |
| Insmed, Inc. | 4 | $175 |
| Janssen Products, LP | 1 | $100 |
| Bayer Puerto Rico Inc. | 3 | $64 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 2 | $45 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 1 | $29 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $25 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $24 |
| Sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC | 1 | $20 |
| Abbott | 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.
How this compares
$4,296 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 127 infectious disease providers in Puerto Rico.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| ArikayceAmikacin Liposomal/Neb.Accessr | 29 | $441,709 |
| DovatoDolutegravir Sodium/Lamivudine | 49 | $167,410 |
| BiktarvyBictegrav/Emtricit/Tenofov Ala | 21 | $113,505 |
| JulucaDolutegravir/Rilpivirine | 19 | $110,952 |
| DelstrigoDoravirine/Lamivu/Tenofov Diso | 13 | $34,730 |
| Rifampin | 27 | $2,281 |
| Methenamine Hippurate | 28 | $1,561 |
| Ethambutol Hcl | 30 | $905 |
| Doxycycline Monohydrate | 17 | $846 |
| SynthroidLevothyroxine Sodium | 12 | $585 |
| Azithromycin | 22 | $570 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium | 31 | $414 |
| ValacyclovirValacyclovir Hcl | 18 | $320 |
| Levofloxacin | 14 | $173 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| Insmed, Inc.Arikayce | $175 | $441,70929 claims |
| Viiv Healthcare CompanyDovato, Juluca | $416 | $278,36268 claims |
| GileadBiktarvy | $199 | $113,50521 claims |
| MerckDelstrigo | $1,643 | $34,73013 claims |
| AbbVieSynthroid | $685 | $58512 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 85th percentile of 127 infectious disease providers in Puerto Rico.
Other infectious disease in Caguas
- Francisco AlvaradoCaguas$69K
- Diana Otero-CastroCaguas$1K
- Eileen Colon SantosCaguas$822
- Marisel Bosques RosadoHato Rey$247K
- Jorge Santana BagurManati$180K
- Jorge Bertran-PasarellHato Rey$64K
- Joel Munoz CoreanoBayamon$59K
- Vanessa Olivo EchavarrySan Juan$41K
- Carlos Guzman OrtizAibonito$38K
- Angeles Rodriguez RosaSan Juan$27K
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.