Has James Wudel, MD received payments from drug or device companies?

Yes. Drug and device makers reported $73,256 in general payments to James Wudel, MD across 293 transactions between 2019–2025. Most Open Payments records nationally are meals worth under $20; a reported payment is not evidence of wrongdoing.

Does a payment mean James Wudel, MD did something wrong?

No. Federal law requires drug and device makers to report almost every transfer of value to a physician, including a $14 sandwich at a lunch presentation. Consulting fees, research funding and royalties to device inventors are ordinary, legal parts of medicine. This site reports what was disclosed; it makes no allegation.

Where does this information about James Wudel, MD come from?

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Payments come from Open Payments, published under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. Billing and prescribing figures come from the Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners and Part D Prescriber public use files for 2024.

James Wudel, MD

Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Vero Beach, FLNPI 1942395215

Payments from drug & device makers

What this record shows

The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (53.2%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Edwards Lifesciences accounts for 77.2% of it on its own, with 21 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $29,342 and has fallen 95.4% since, to $1,352 in 2025. Among thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in FL 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.

$73,256in general payments, 2019–2025

Across 293 payments — averaging $250.02 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.

Edwards Lifesciences$57K
Atricure, Inc.$7K
Boston Scientific$3K
Livanova USA, Inc.$2K
Medtronic$2K
Artivion, Inc.$647
plus $3K from 16 others

$43,501in research payments, 2019–2025

Across 23 payments — averaging $1891.34 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.

Livanova USA, Inc.$21K
Edwards Lifesciences$13K
Abbott$10K

What the payments were for

Consulting fees$38,97553%
Speaking & faculty fees$7,70011%
Grants$4061%
Travel & lodging$16,71823%
Food & beverage$9,45713%

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
Edwards Lifesciences	134	$56,528
Atricure, Inc.	32	$6,699
Boston Scientific	17	$2,516
Livanova USA, Inc.	4	$2,288
Medtronic(2 entities)	37	$1,941
Artivion, Inc.	7	$647
Cvrx, Inc.	8	$555
Johnson & Johnson(2 entities)	16	$485
Abbott	7	$479
Abiomed	10	$471
ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp)	5	$198
Getinge USA Sales, LLC	4	$115
Intuitive Surgical	2	$108
C. R. Bard, Inc. & Subsidiaries	1	$47
Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corporation	1	$36
Chiesi USA, Inc.	2	$28
Kls-martin L.p.	1	$23
Pfizer	1	$21
Smith+Nephew	1	$21
Irhythm Technologies, Inc.	1	$19
Davol Inc.	1	$18
Lundbeck LLC	1	$12

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

$73,256 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 408 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Florida.

See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Florida →

Medicare billing

Part B allowed, 2024

$135,681

Medicare patients

138

Services billed

291

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
Tramadol Hcl	11	$20
Furosemide	18	$15

Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.

Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Vero Beach

Anthony NunezOrlando$4.8M
Barry WintonLargo$687K
Paul DigiorgiPort Charlotte$666K
John PirrisJacksonville$640K
Jacques FontaineTampa$630K
Andrew ShermanTampa$517K
Rogerio CarrilloHialeah$515K
Daniel O'HairFort Myers$429K
Luis HerreraOrlando$409K
Joseph LamelasMiami$379K

See the full list for Florida →

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.

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