John Vender, MD
Neurological Surgery · Augusta, GANPI 1174634174
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 26 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. It is spread thinly across 16 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 18.3% — the pattern of someone who eats at a lot of different presentations. That places this record below the midpoint for neurological surgery clinicians in GA, where the typical reported total is $3,499.
Across 26 payments — averaging $26.46 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Boston Scientific$126
- Medtronic$100
- Leica Microsystems Inc.$91
- Zap Surgical Systems, Inc.$63
- Aesculap, Inc.$51
- Johnson & Johnson$38
- plus $218 from 10 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$688100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Scientific | 3 | $126 |
| Medtronic | 6 | $100 |
| Leica Microsystems Inc. | 1 | $91 |
| Zap Surgical Systems, Inc. | 1 | $63 |
| Aesculap, Inc. | 2 | $51 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $38 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 1 | $35 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 2 | $33 |
| AstraZeneca | 2 | $30 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $24 |
| Kuros Biosciences USA, Inc | 1 | $22 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $18 |
| Globus Medical | 1 | $15 |
| Nevro Corp. | 1 | $14 |
| Flowonix Medical Incorporated | 1 | $14 |
| Stryker | 1 | $13 |
How this compares
$688 in reported general payments places this provider in the 25th percentile of 201 neurological surgery providers in Georgia.
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 neurological surgery in Augusta
- Abdulaziz AlmubarakAugusta$82K
- Fernando ValeAugusta$67K
- Ildemaro VolcanAugusta$55K
- Scott RahimiAugusta$39K
- Jonathan TuttleAugusta$21K
- Luca DebsAugusta$15K
- Regis HaidAtlanta$25.5M
- John CowanRome$3.2M
- Thomas MorrisonAtlanta$2.8M
- Christopher TomarasAtlanta$1.5M
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.