Marco Vargas, DPM
Foot & Ankle Surgery · Sugar Land, TXNPI 1760582647
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
Almost everything reported here is food and beverage — 100.0% of the total across 76 separate payments, which is the pattern of a clinician who attends manufacturer presentations rather than one with a consulting arrangement. 14 manufacturers reported payments, led by Amgen at 36.0% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2019 at $445 and has fallen 93.5% since, to $29 in 2025. That places this record below the midpoint for foot & ankle surgery clinicians in TX, where the typical reported total is $3,901.
Across 76 payments — averaging $15.51 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Amgen$424
- Merck$165
- Bone Support Inc.$158
- Novartis$120
- Stryker$82
- Organogenesis Inc.$63
- plus $167 from 8 others
Across 3 payments — averaging $108,769 each. An ownership or investment interest held by the physician or an immediate family member.
- GLW, Inc$326K
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$1,179100%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Amgen | 37 | $424 |
| Merck | 23 | $165 |
| Bone Support Inc. | 1 | $158 |
| Novartis | 1 | $120 |
| Stryker | 2 | $82 |
| Organogenesis Inc. | 3 | $63 |
| Nabriva Therapeutics, PLC | 2 | $28 |
| Celularity Inc. | 1 | $28 |
| Melinta Therapeutics, LLC | 1 | $22 |
| GRT US Holding, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 1 | $21 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
| Mimedx Group, Inc. | 1 | $15 |
| Biotissue Holdings Inc. | 1 | $14 |
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.
- CERAMENTBONE VOID FILLER$158
- ENTRESTO$120
How this compares
$1,179 in reported general payments places this provider in the 20th percentile of 684 foot & ankle 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Amoxicillin-Clavulanate PotassAmoxicillin/Potassium Clav | 72 | $548 |
| Pregabalin | 21 | $514 |
| Methylprednisolone | 56 | $374 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 12 | $357 |
| Etodolac | 11 | $125 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other foot & ankle surgery in Sugar Land
- John ZhaoSugar Land$56K
- Manish PatelSugar Land$54K
- William McGarveyKaty$3.5M
- Eugene CurryDallas$3.1M
- Graham HamiltonEdinburg$2.1M
- Mark DaltonAustin$1.9M
- Kevin VarnerHouston$1.1M
- Paul KimDallas$928K
- Sherman NaglerHouston$602K
- John EarlyDallas$553K
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.