Howard Marks, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Wilmington, NCNPI 1063437168
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (55.3%), travel and lodging and consulting fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 23 manufacturers reported payments, led by Abbott at 24.5% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $3,404 and has fallen 89.3% since, to $365 in 2025.
Across 151 payments — averaging $70.19 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Abbott$3K
- Abiomed$3K
- Edwards Lifesciences$2K
- Atricure, Inc.$1K
- Johnson & Johnson$409
- Medtronic$314
- plus $1K from 17 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$1001%
- Travel & lodging$4,63644%
- Food & beverage$5,86255%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Abbott | 26 | $2,597 |
| Abiomed | 17 | $2,579 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 18 | $2,427 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 14 | $1,227 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 19 | $409 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 13 | $314 |
| Angiodynamics, Inc. | 6 | $183 |
| Biomerieux Inc | 4 | $133 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 3 | $113 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 2 | $97 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 3 | $93 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 5 | $75 |
| Smith+Nephew | 3 | $68 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 5 | $52 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 3 | $49 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 2 | $36 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 2 | $34 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 1 | $25 |
| Corcym Inc | 1 | $24 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Deroyal Industries, Inc. | 1 | $16 |
| Merck | 1 | $15 |
| LSI Solutions Inc | 1 | $14 |
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.
- Impella$1,846
- Carpentier-Edwards PERIMOUNT Magna Mitral Ease Pericardial Valve$1,187
- THORATEC HEARTMATE 3 LVAS IMPLANT KIT$996
- Mitra Clip system$747
- EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYSTEM WITH VISITRAX$733
- EDWARDS INTUITY Elite valve system$274
- MITRIS RESILIA Mitral Valve$206
- ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION SYSTEM$123
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra Transcatheter Heart Valve$113
- KONECT RESILIA$112
How this compares
$10,598 in reported general payments places this provider in the 60th percentile of 132 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in North Carolina.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in North Carolina →
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 Wilmington
- Peter KaneWilmington$72K
- Joseph RubelowskyRaleigh$2.2M
- Matthew HartwigDurham$406K
- Gregory SmaroffNew Bern$205K
- David HarpoleDurham$177K
- Carmelo MilanoLumberton$169K
- Walter ChitwoodGreenville$139K
- Michael MillChapel Hill$137K
- Eric SkipperCharlotte$132K
- Brett StarrHickory$95K
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.