Karl Limmer, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · San Diego, CANPI 1871757294
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 134 payments — averaging $503.36 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Atricure, Inc.$36K
- Livanova USA, Inc.$14K
- Artivion, Inc.$9K
- Intuitive Surgical$6K
- Abbott$2K
- Edwards Lifesciences$1K
- plus $855 from 12 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$31,40071%
- Travel & lodging$2,5826%
- Food & beverage$5,88713%
- Education$4,64910%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Atricure, Inc. | 66 | $35,966 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 7 | $13,769 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 2 | $8,554 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 8 | $5,659 |
| Abbott | 19 | $1,617 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 11 | $1,031 |
| Davol Inc. | 2 | $183 |
| Silk Road Medical, Inc. | 3 | $180 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 2 | $169 |
| Philips North America LLC | 4 | $136 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 2 | $46 |
| Abiomed | 2 | $34 |
| CSL Behring | 1 | $20 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $19 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Merck | 1 | $16 |
| LSI Solutions Inc | 1 | $16 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $16 |
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.
- ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION SYSTEM$12,058
- EPI-SENSE GUIDED COAGULATION SYSTEM WITH VISITRAX$11,350
- SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM$8,276
- Da Vinci Surgical System$5,591
- ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOSPHERE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM$3,453
- Tendyne Mitral Valve System$622
- THORATEC HEARTMATE 3 LVAS IMPLANT KIT$422
- ATRICURE CRYOICE CRYOABLATION SYSTEM (CRYO2)$379
- ATRICURE ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION$356
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Transcatheter Heart Valve$311
- INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve$269
- Progel Applicator Spray Tips$161
- MITRIS RESILIA Mitral Valve$134
- GLIDEPATH TAPE$121
- ATRICURE SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM$114
- Barostim Neo System$109
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Neuroprotection System$102
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Stent System$102
- ENHANCE Transcarotid Peripheral Access Kit$102
- ENROUTE 0.014 Guidewire$102
How this compares
$67,450 in reported general payments places this provider in the 85th percentile of 546 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in California.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in California →
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 San Diego
- Gert PretoriusSan Diego$734K
- James HempSan Diego$244K
- Mark OnaitisSan Diego$207K
- Robert AdamsonSan Diego$149K
- Thomas FogartyPortola Valley$3.7M
- Steven GundryPalm Springs$1.6M
- Gregory FontanaThousand Oaks$1.4M
- Gansevoort DunningtonSaint Helena$963K
- Armin KiankhooySaint Helena$941K
- Ara KlijianMurrieta$916K
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.