Michael Morell, MD
Surgery · la Crosse, WINPI 1225393176
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — education (43.7%), travel and lodging and food and beverage — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. Intuitive Surgical accounts for 69.7% of it on its own, with 10 other manufacturers making up the rest. Reporting peaked in 2020 at $10,300 and has fallen 92.3% since, to $795 in 2025. Among surgery clinicians in WI with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 114 payments — averaging $173.61 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$14K
- Medtronic$2K
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$1K
- Davol Inc.$1K
- Covidien LP$704
- Johnson & Johnson$396
- plus $669 from 5 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$6,36532%
- Food & beverage$4,77024%
- Education$8,64344%
- Gifts$140%
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 | 39 | $13,788 |
| Medtronic | 13 | $1,801 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 16 | $1,313 |
| Davol Inc. | 21 | $1,120 |
| Covidien LP | 10 | $704 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 8 | $396 |
| C. R. Bard, Inc. & Subsidiaries | 2 | $369 |
| TELA Bio, Inc. | 1 | $145 |
| Stryker | 1 | $72 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $47 |
| Conmed Corporation | 2 | $35 |
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$11,384
- DAVINCI XI$1,500
- LigaSure$1,479
- PHASIX$977
- ECHELON FLEX Stapler$648
- EVICEL Fibrin Sealant (Human)$648
- ProGrip$388
- Echelon Flex$254
- Harmonic$254
- ECHELON ENDOPATH$254
- Signia$154
- OviTex 2S$145
- HARMONIC Product Family$123
- Phasix Mesh$109
- Enseal$108
- SURGIFLO Hemostatic Matrix$108
How this compares
$19,791 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 499 surgery providers in Wisconsin.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| OzempicSemaglutide | 12 | $10,412 |
| Famotidine | 14 | $39 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 17 | $25 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgery in la Crosse
- Travis Smithla Crosse$56K
- Brandon Groverla Crosse$27K
- Joshua Pfeifferla Crosse$25K
- Shelley Gabel Lewisla Crosse$23K
- Peter UllrichAppleton$18M
- Matthew GoldblattMilwaukee$594K
- Raymond GeorgenNeenah$325K
- Cynthia GeocarisGreen Bay$263K
- Rana HigginsMilwaukee$148K
- Mustafa BadruddujaKenosha$134K
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.