Nelson Liou, MD
Otolaryngology · Houston, TXNPI 1518298587
Payments from drug & device makers
Across 127 payments — averaging $144.30 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$5K
- Intersect ENT, Inc.$3K
- Inspire Medical Systems, Inc.$3K
- Axogen$2K
- Aerin Medical Inc.$2K
- Johnson & Johnson$546
- plus $3K from 15 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$2,77215%
- Food & beverage$11,55463%
- Education$4,00022%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Intuitive Surgical | 25 | $5,374 |
| Intersect ENT, Inc. | 12 | $2,682 |
| Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. | 12 | $2,553 |
| Axogen | 24 | $2,467 |
| Aerin Medical Inc. | 17 | $1,725 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 4 | $546 |
| Stryker | 3 | $470 |
| Medtronic | 5 | $439 |
| Acera Surgical, Inc. | 2 | $374 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 3 | $321 |
| Providence Medical Technology, Inc. | 1 | $303 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 2 | $243 |
| Olympus America Inc. | 5 | $227 |
| Sanara Medtech Inc. | 1 | $191 |
| Ambu Inc. | 3 | $116 |
| Kls-martin L.p. | 1 | $100 |
| Checkpoint Surgical, Inc | 2 | $60 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $47 |
| Atos Medical Inc | 1 | $43 |
| Tactile Systems Technology Inc | 2 | $28 |
| Acclarent, Inc | 1 | $19 |
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 SP$4,000
- PROPEL$2,475
- SINUVA$2,096
- AxoGuard Nerve Connector$1,461
- AxoGuard Nerve Protector$1,461
- Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation System$1,339
- Inspire$1,101
- Da Vinci Surgical System$962
- VIVAER STYLUS$870
- RHINAER STYLUS$870
- AVANCE NERVE GRAFT$446
- AXOGUARD HA+ NERVE PROTECTOR$446
- AxoGuard Nerve Cap$446
- Restrata Wound Matrix$374
- VSP SYSTEM, VSP CRANIAL$307
- CellerateRx$191
- HYDROSET$163
- MATRIXCOMBO$157
- MATRIXNEURO$150
- ORBEYE SURGICAL MICROSCOPE$138
How this compares
$18,326 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 729 otolaryngology 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Azelastine-FluticasoneAzelastine/Fluticasone | 17 | $2,158 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 44 | $801 |
| Levothyroxine Sodium | 45 | $343 |
| Omeprazole | 28 | $266 |
| Fluticasone Propionate | 13 | $187 |
| Azelastine Hcl | 14 | $171 |
| Amoxicillin-Clavulanate PotassAmoxicillin/Potassium Clav | 20 | $153 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other otolaryngology in Houston
- Mark ZafereoHouston$7.8M
- Neil GrossHouston$1.5M
- Stephen LaiHouston$968K
- Amber LuongHouston$793K
- Masayoshi TakashimaHouston$644K
- Arjuna KuperanHouston$348K
- Ron KarniHouston$336K
- William YaoHouston$280K
- Martin CitardiHouston$264K
- Michael KaplanHouston$202K
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.