J Morales, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Corpus Christi, TXNPI 1134170657
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — royalties or licence payments (56.1%), consulting fees and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 18 manufacturers reported payments, led by Zimmer Biomet at 56.1% of the total. Among thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in TX with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 178 payments — averaging $581.43 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Zimmer Biomet$58K
- JACE Medical LLC$37K
- Atricure, Inc.$3K
- Getinge USA Sales, LLC$3K
- Elutia, Inc.$716
- Edwards Lifesciences$642
- plus $2K from 12 others
What the payments were for
- Royalty or licence$58,01256%
- Consulting fees$36,50835%
- Travel & lodging$9251%
- Food & beverage$8,0488%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Zimmer Biomet | 11 | $58,012 |
| JACE Medical LLC | 3 | $36,508 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 34 | $2,965 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 76 | $2,512 |
| Elutia, Inc. | 6 | $716 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 7 | $642 |
| Abiomed | 8 | $629 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 10 | $459 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 2 | $170 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 5 | $167 |
| AbbVie | 7 | $148 |
| Shockwave Medical, Inc | 1 | $139 |
| LSI Solutions Inc | 1 | $112 |
| Biostable Science & Engineering | 1 | $93 |
| Corcym Inc | 2 | $71 |
| Abbott | 2 | $67 |
| Aroa Biosurgery Incorporated | 1 | $65 |
| Clearflow Inc. | 1 | $21 |
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.
- STERNALOCK$21,508
- STERNALOCK 360 SYSTEM$20,309
- Cable Ready$16,195
- Low Profile$13,872
- ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM (CRYO2)$1,526
- ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOSPHERE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM$1,216
- SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM$838
- ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION SYSTEM$838
- ECM Patch,Pouch$611
- CoreValve Evolut$304
- Acrobat-I Stabilizer$242
- EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYSTEM WITH VISITRAX$149
- EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYSTEM WITH VISITRAX, MODELS$140
- Shockwave IVL System with the Shockwave C2 Coronary IVL Catheter$139
- EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYS$132
- ATRICURE ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION$132
- HeartString III Proximal Seal$115
- RAM$112
- Axius Coronary Shunt$105
- RESTOREFLO$100
How this compares
$103,494 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 424 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Texas.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Texas →
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Furosemide | 22 | $112 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 12 | $56 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 13 | $41 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Corpus Christi
- Faraz KerendiAustin$906K
- Robert HebelerDallas$723K
- Michael ReardonHouston$713K
- Danny RamzyHouston$527K
- Scott OlssonCypress$357K
- Randall WolfHouston$283K
- Gary JettPlano$277K
- Darien BradfordBurleson$266K
- William BrinkmanPlano$266K
- Brannon HydeAustin$214K
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.