John Sutton, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Columbia, SCNPI 1265402762
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (48.4%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 16 manufacturers reported payments, led by Intuitive Surgical at 54.5% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $9,145, more than ten times the $101 reported in 2019.
Across 107 payments — averaging $106.68 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$6K
- Medtronic$2K
- Artivion, Inc.$1K
- Abbott$996
- Atricure, Inc.$696
- Getinge USA Sales, LLC$246
- plus $448 from 10 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$3,07427%
- Food & beverage$2,82125%
- Education$5,52048%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Intuitive Surgical | 11 | $6,222 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 28 | $1,522 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 4 | $1,284 |
| Abbott | 11 | $996 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 30 | $696 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 6 | $246 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 3 | $186 |
| Biotronik Inc. | 4 | $75 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 2 | $37 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 2 | $29 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 1 | $26 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $25 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 1 | $22 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $21 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $16 |
| Endologix LLC | 1 | $13 |
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
$11,414 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 83 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in South Carolina.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in South 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.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| JardianceEmpagliflozin | 12 | $6,918 |
| Amiodarone Hcl | 17 | $362 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 31 | $130 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 12 | $112 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 38 | $80 |
| Metoprolol Tartrate | 17 | $62 |
| Carvedilol | 11 | $33 |
| Spironolactone | 15 | $26 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Columbia
- James BurkeColumbia$10K
- Jeffery MartinColumbia$4K
- William McMasterColumbia$3K
- Curtis QuinnCharleston$374K
- Marc KatzCharleston$265K
- Arman KilicCharleston$170K
- Barry GibneyCharleston$39K
- Jacob KlapperCharleston$38K
- John KelemenHilton Head Island$35K
- Kathryn EngelhartdtCharleston$33K
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.