Helen Cappuccino, MD
Surgical Oncology · Buffalo, NYNPI 1467458893
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by speaking fees: $51,514 of the $70,210 with a category attached, or 73.4%. Merck accounts for 97.6% of it on its own, with 2 other manufacturers making up the rest. Among surgical oncology clinicians in NY with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 76 payments — averaging $923.82 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Merck$69K
- Axogen$2K
- Caris MPI, Inc.$17
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$51,51473%
- Travel & lodging$17,39425%
- Food & beverage$1,3022%
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 | 70 | $68,511 |
| Axogen | 5 | $1,682 |
| Caris MPI, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
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.
- KEYTRUDA$50,552
- AXOGUARD$3,364
- AXOGUARD HA+ NERVE PROTECTOR$1,682
- AxoGuard Nerve Cap$1,682
How this compares
$70,210 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 173 surgical oncology providers in New York.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Anastrozole | 14 | $137 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgical oncology in Buffalo
- Moshim KukarBuffalo$17K
- Michael NagaiBuffalo$5K
- Vadim GushchinBuffalo$4K
- Steven NurkinBuffalo$3K
- Sheldon FeldmanNew York$97K
- Kepal PatelNew York$94K
- Jose Alberty OllerStaten Island$63K
- Megan WinnerMineola$51K
- George PlitasNew York$39K
- James ParkNew York$28K
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.