Maxwell Merkow, MD
Neurological Surgery · Walnut Creek, CANPI 1194951723
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 54 payments — averaging $499.86 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$26K
- Johnson & Johnson$164
- Viz.ai, Inc.$132
- Nevro Corp.$127
- Alphatec Spine, Inc$81
- Aesculap, Inc.$51
- plus $146 from 7 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$12,62047%
- Speaking & faculty fees$9,81036%
- Travel & lodging$3,03111%
- Food & beverage$1,0014%
- Education$5302%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 40 | $26,292 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $164 |
| Viz.ai, Inc. | 1 | $132 |
| Nevro Corp. | 1 | $127 |
| Alphatec Spine, Inc | 1 | $81 |
| Aesculap, Inc. | 2 | $51 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $31 |
| Vertos Medical, Inc. | 1 | $28 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $24 |
| Abbott | 1 | $20 |
| Monteris Medical Corporation | 1 | $19 |
| GT Medical Technologies, Inc | 1 | $19 |
| Globus Medical | 1 | $5 |
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.
- STEALTHSTATION S8 PLATFORM$10,637
- PIVOX Oblique Lateral Spinal System$6,709
- StealthStation$2,960
- DIVERGENCE-L ANTERIOR/OBLIQUE LUMBAR FUSION SYSTEM$2,500
- CD HORIZON SPINAL SYSTEM$2,500
- MAZOR X SYSTEM$416
- VIPER$140
- Teligen$140
- CONDUIT$140
- SYMPHONY$140
- Viz.AI LVO$132
- Senza Spinal Cord Stimulation System$127
How this compares
$26,992 in reported general payments places this provider in the 70th percentile of 773 neurological 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 neurological surgery in Walnut Creek
- Benjamin YimWalnut Creek$706K
- Brandon McCutcheonWalnut Creek$562K
- Geoffrey ManleySan Francisco$24.9M
- Christopher AmesSan Francisco$7.1M
- Jamshid SalehRedding$4.1M
- Bruce McCormackSan Francisco$3.9M
- Andrew SchreiberSanta Ana$3.9M
- Larry KhooLos Angeles$3M
- Jennie TaylorSan Francisco$2.7M
- Joseph CiacciSan Diego$2.6M
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.