Kenneth Helmer, MD
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 49 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 22 manufacturers reported payments, led by Johnson & Johnson at 30.4% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $420, 5.3 times the $79 reported in 2019. That places this record below the midpoint for surgery clinicians in TX, where the typical reported total is $2,700.
Across 49 payments — averaging $31.31 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Johnson & Johnson$467
- Kerecis Limited$146
- Integra Lifesciences Corporation$115
- Avita Medical Americas, LLC$114
- Smith+Nephew$110
- Shionogi Inc$104
- plus $479 from 16 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,534100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 12 | $467 |
| Kerecis Limited | 6 | $146 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 2 | $115 |
| Avita Medical Americas, LLC | 4 | $114 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $110 |
| Shionogi Inc | 4 | $104 |
| Aroa Biosurgery Incorporated | 2 | $92 |
| Hemosonics LLC | 2 | $59 |
| Baudax Bio Inc. | 2 | $42 |
| Prytime Medical Devices, Inc. | 1 | $39 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 2 | $35 |
| Medinc Of Texas | 1 | $34 |
| Teleflex LLC | 1 | $24 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $22 |
| Elucent Medical | 1 | $22 |
| Mallinckrodt Enterprises LLC | 1 | $19 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $18 |
| TELA Bio, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $16 |
| Romark Laboratories, LC | 1 | $15 |
| THD America, Inc. | 1 | $8 |
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.
- Versajet$110
How this compares
$1,534 in reported general payments places this provider in the 40th percentile of 1,830 surgery providers in Texas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 11 | $108 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgery in Tyler
- Michael HarkinsTomball$2.7M
- Douglas StoddardAustin$1.4M
- Steven FassAustin$989K
- Vineet ChoudhryAustin$851K
- Andy HawthorneRound Rock$843K
- Nancy MarquezAustin$700K
- Sachin KukrejaDallas$640K
- Alejandro EsquivelAustin$631K
- Erik WilsonBellaire$610K
- Folahan AyoolaDenton$570K
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.