Hector Vargas Soto, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery of the Spine · Mayaguez, PRNPI 1467488650
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (56.6%), royalties or licence payments and gifts — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Precision Spine, Inc. accounts for 90.0% of it on its own, with 9 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $46,176 and has fallen 99.9% since, to $48 in 2025.
Across 34 payments — averaging $2127.17 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Precision Spine, Inc.$65K
- Zimmer Biomet$5K
- Zavation Medical Products, LLC$1K
- Globus Medical$428
- Integrity Implants Inc.$377
- Life Spine, Inc.$125
- plus $266 from 4 others
Across 1 payment — averaging $500.00 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.
- Globus Medical$500
What the payments were for
- Royalty or licence$24,10033%
- Consulting fees$40,95957%
- Travel & lodging$6831%
- Food & beverage$1,6952%
- Gifts$4,8877%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Precision Spine, Inc. | 8 | $65,059 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $4,843 |
| Zavation Medical Products, LLC | 6 | $1,226 |
| Globus Medical(2 entities) | 8 | $428 |
| Integrity Implants Inc. | 6 | $377 |
| Life Spine, Inc. | 1 | $125 |
| Integrity Implants Inc. Dba Accelus | 1 | $103 |
| Encore Medical, LP | 1 | $101 |
| Xtant Medical Inc | 1 | $48 |
| Elevation Spine, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
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.
- Reform HA Coated Screws$65,059
- Zimmer Biomet Instruments and Implants$4,843
- Modulus$127
- FlareHawk$103
- DJO SURGICAL$101
How this compares
Too few orthopaedic surgery of the spine providers in Puerto Ricoto place this figure against a meaningful peer group, so we don't.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Etodolac | 104 | $2,887 |
| Alendronate Sodium | 376 | $2,081 |
| Amoxicillin-Clavulanate PotassAmoxicillin/Potassium Clav | 126 | $2,015 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 158 | $2,000 |
| Tramadol Hcl-AcetaminophenTramadol Hcl/Acetaminophen | 128 | $1,707 |
| Gabapentin | 328 | $1,677 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 257 | $1,596 |
| Baclofen | 193 | $1,332 |
| Methylprednisolone | 103 | $967 |
| Amoxicillin | 155 | $874 |
| Pentoxifylline | 44 | $736 |
| Ciprofloxacin Hcl | 58 | $589 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 12 | $237 |
| Butalbital-Acetaminophen-CaffeButalb/Acetaminophen/Caffeine | 11 | $143 |
| Meloxicam | 20 | $99 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery of the spine in Mayaguez
- Fernando VillamilSan Juan$540K
- Yamil Rivera ColonSan Juan$113K
- Luis Marrero PerezSan Juan$19K
- Enrique Escobar MedinaCaguas$7K
- Oscar DuyosCayey$6K
- Jose Montanez-HuertasSan Juan$3K
- Christopher Alcala MarquezSan Juan$3K
- Manuel Ramirez GonzalezArecibo$2K
- Jose Massanet-VollrathBayamon$2K
- Karl Vega LelkesCayey$1K
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.