Merlin Wehling, MD
Anesthesiology · Kearney, NENPI 1023122272
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by royalties or licence payments: $2,301,858 of the $2,684,375 with a category attached, or 85.8%. Medtronic accounts for 100.0% of it on its own, with 5 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $2,301,858 and has fallen 99.7% since, to $6,077 in 2025. Among anesthesiology clinicians in NE with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 5% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 25 payments — averaging $107,375 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$2.7M
- Abiomed$68
- Baxter Healthcare$29
- Chiesi USA, Inc.$19
- Vyaire Medical, Inc.$18
- Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated$12
What the payments were for
- Royalty or licence$2,301,85886%
- Food & beverage$1460%
- Other$382,37114%
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) | 20 | $2,684,230 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $68 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $29 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 1 | $19 |
| Vyaire Medical, Inc. | 1 | $18 |
| Pacira Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | 1 | $12 |
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.
- Ellipsys$2,582,006
- ELLIPSYS VASCULAR ACCESS SYSTEM$102,223
How this compares
$2,684,375 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 281 anesthesiology providers in Nebraska.
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 anesthesiology in Kearney
- Burt McKeagKearney$13K
- Pamela McKeagKearney$4K
- Amy ClarkKearney$440
- Kenneth GrossLincoln$153K
- Myles GartNorfolk$115K
- Douglas SpurgeonLincoln$101K
- Travis TeetorOmaha$82K
- Redgy FullerOmaha$9K
- Peter PellegrinoOmaha$9K
- Robert MuellemanOmaha$9K
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.