Kenneth Copperwheat, DO
Surgery · Columbus, GANPI 1316393879
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (38.0%), education and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Intuitive Surgical accounts for 60.5% of it on its own, with 22 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $4,742, 2.7 times the $1,746 reported in 2021.
Across 81 payments — averaging $111.78 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$5K
- Boston Scientific$1K
- Stryker$646
- Novo Nordisk$302
- Medtronic$285
- Endogastric Solutions, Inc$141
- plus $841 from 17 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$3,44438%
- Food & beverage$2,60929%
- Education$3,00033%
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 | 22 | $5,481 |
| Boston Scientific | 10 | $1,358 |
| Stryker | 1 | $646 |
| Novo Nordisk | 14 | $302 |
| Medtronic | 2 | $285 |
| Endogastric Solutions, Inc | 1 | $141 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 1 | $138 |
| Lilly USA, LLC | 8 | $131 |
| Lucid Diagnostics Inc. | 2 | $113 |
| TELA Bio, Inc. | 2 | $74 |
| Ambu Inc. | 2 | $54 |
| AbbVie | 3 | $50 |
| Davol Inc. | 2 | $48 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 1 | $46 |
| Apollo Endosurgery US Inc | 1 | $32 |
| Heron Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $28 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $26 |
| Vertex | 1 | $21 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 1 | $19 |
| Myriad Genetic Laboratories, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Teleflex LLC | 1 | $16 |
| Conmed Corporation | 1 | $14 |
| Currax Pharmaceuticals 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.
- Da Vinci Surgical System$4,971
- Apollo ESG NXT System$1,150
- SPY-PHI SYSTEM$646
- ESOPHYX$141
- SEAMGUARD$138
How this compares
$9,054 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 855 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.
Most prescribed under Part D
| Drug | Claims | Cost to plans & patients |
|---|---|---|
| Ursodiol | 43 | $5,726 |
| Omeprazole | 54 | $1,086 |
| Sucralfate | 16 | $806 |
| Ondansetron OdtOndansetron | 59 | $741 |
| Pantoprazole Sodium | 11 | $113 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 30 | $46 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgery in Columbus
- Robert EdwardsColumbus$34K
- Chad CopperGainesville$999K
- Zachary KlaassenAugusta$763K
- Stephen OdomAustell$599K
- Fritz Jean-PierreMarietta$464K
- Kendra GrubbAtlanta$374K
- Harry LightfootSmyrna$241K
- Oliver WhippleSavannah$222K
- Nelson RoyallGainesville$220K
- Ankit PatelAtlanta$217K
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.