Nathan Liang
Vascular Surgery · Pittsburgh, PANPI 1124314893
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (48.2%), travel and lodging and speaking fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 20 manufacturers reported payments, led by W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. at 56.1% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $39,591, more than ten times the $2,937 reported in 2019. Among vascular surgery clinicians in PA 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 218 payments — averaging $371.47 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$45K
- Bolton Medical Inc$12K
- Penumbra, Inc.$10K
- Cook Medical LLC$4K
- Medtronic$3K
- Cook Incorporated$2K
- plus $4K from 14 others
Across 12 payments — averaging $39,130 each. Payments tied to a research study. These frequently flow through the physician to a hospital or research institution rather than to the physician personally.
- Medtronic$470K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$39,03348%
- Speaking & faculty fees$11,58014%
- Travel & lodging$19,23724%
- Food & beverage$11,13114%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 56 | $45,433 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 28 | $11,685 |
| Penumbra, Inc. | 19 | $10,350 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 42 | $4,297 |
| Medtronic | 20 | $3,000 |
| Cook Incorporated | 1 | $2,480 |
| Endologix LLC | 2 | $1,142 |
| Philips North America LLC | 12 | $723 |
| Silk Road Medical, Inc. | 5 | $641 |
| Cardiovascular Systems Inc. | 7 | $371 |
| Centerline Biomedical Inc. | 2 | $168 |
| Terumo Medical Corporation | 1 | $158 |
| Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. | 3 | $143 |
| Contego Medical, Inc | 3 | $126 |
| Cvrx, Inc. | 6 | $70 |
| Boehringer Ingelheim | 3 | $69 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 4 | $55 |
| Cardiva Medical, Inc. | 2 | $43 |
| Convatec Inc. | 1 | $13 |
| Amgen | 1 | $13 |
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.
- EXCLUDER Conformable AAA Endoprosthesis with Active Control$28,979
- GORE EXCLUDER Iliac Branch Endoprosthesis$21,057
- GORE VIABAHN Endoprosthesis$20,230
- GORE VIABAHN VBX Balloon Expandable Endo$18,133
- GORE TAG Thoracic Branch Endoprosthesis$16,273
- GORE VIABAHN Endoprosthesis with Heparin$14,455
- GORE-TEX Vascular Graft$14,282
- GORE EXCLUDER AAA Endoprosthesis$11,548
- Indigo System$9,828
- GORE TAG Conformable Thoracic Stent Graft$8,562
- GORE EXCLUDER Thoracoabdominal Branch Endoprosthesis$8,050
- ENDURANT IIS$2,526
- Zenith Spiral-Z$2,480
- TAG Thoracic Endoprosthesis$1,989
- TREO ABDOMINAL STENT-GRAFT SYSTEM$1,768
- Zenith Alpha$1,744
- GORE TAG Conformable Thoracic Endoprosthesis$1,727
- Product in Development$570
- Cook Medical Zilver PTX$569
- ENROUTE Transcarotid Neuroprotection System$557
How this compares
$80,980 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 236 vascular surgery providers in Pennsylvania.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| XareltoRivaroxaban | 23 | $21,576 |
| ClopidogrelClopidogrel Bisulfate | 56 | $720 |
| Atorvastatin Calcium | 16 | $319 |
| Prednisone | 12 | $14 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Companies that both paid and supply prescribed drugs
These companies both reported payments to this provider and make drugs the provider prescribed under Medicare Part D in 2024. For most specialties this overlap is expected — a cardiologist who is paid by a cardiology drugmaker also treats heart disease. It is shown so the reader can see it, not because it implies anything on its own.
| Company | Paid to this provider | Part D cost of their drugs |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson & JohnsonXarelto | $55 | $21,57623 claims |
Reading this fairly. The Part D column is what drug plans and patients paid pharmacies — this provider received none of it, and it reflects how many patients they treat and what those drugs cost. Against peers, this provider's reported payments sit in the 95th percentile of 236 vascular surgery providers in Pennsylvania.
Other vascular surgery in Pittsburgh
- Michel MakarounPittsburgh$143K
- Efthymios AvgerinosPittsburgh$120K
- Scott ChapmanPittsburgh$21K
- Catherine GoPittsburgh$21K
- Othman Abdul-MalakPittsburgh$18K
- Samuel SimonePittsburgh$18K
- Amanda PhillipsPittsburgh$18K
- Desiree PiconePittsburgh$12K
- Michael SinghPittsburgh$12K
- Bart ChessPittsburgh$11K
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.