Paul Merkel, DPM
Podiatrist · Rochester, NYNPI 1932203577
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
30 manufacturers reported payments, led by Prodigy Surgical Distribution, Inc. at 47.0% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2021 at $4,179 and has fallen 72.3% since, to $1,156 in 2025. Among podiatrist clinicians in NY 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 107 payments — averaging $97.00 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Prodigy Surgical Distribution, Inc.$5K
- Organogenesis Inc.$829
- Treace Medical Concepts, Inc.$726
- Smith+Nephew$647
- Integra Lifesciences Corporation$610
- Stryker$403
- plus $2K from 24 others
What the payments were for
- Food & beverage$5,42652%
- Education$4,95348%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Prodigy Surgical Distribution, Inc. | 6 | $4,880 |
| Organogenesis Inc. | 10 | $829 |
| Treace Medical Concepts, Inc. | 11 | $726 |
| Smith+Nephew | 17 | $647 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 8 | $610 |
| Stryker | 7 | $403 |
| Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 3 | $231 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 7 | $227 |
| Advanced Oxygen Therapy Inc. | 4 | $177 |
| Davol Inc. | 2 | $149 |
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 1 | $137 |
| Medtronic | 3 | $136 |
| Bioventus LLC | 1 | $126 |
| Abbott | 2 | $125 |
| Nevro Corp. | 2 | $124 |
| Biotissue Holdings Inc. | 3 | $124 |
| Globus Medical | 2 | $120 |
| KCI USA, Inc. | 2 | $111 |
| Paragon 28, Inc. | 1 | $109 |
| Orthofix Medical, Inc. | 2 | $68 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 3 | $61 |
| Avanos Medical | 1 | $58 |
| Medline Industries LP | 1 | $42 |
| Zyla Life Sciences, Inc. | 2 | $34 |
| Convatec Inc. | 1 | $33 |
| Hartmann USA, Inc. | 1 | $21 |
| Aroa Biosurgery Incorporated | 1 | $20 |
| Pfizer | 1 | $19 |
| DJO, LLC | 1 | $17 |
| Kerecis Limited | 1 | $14 |
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.
- INTEGRA$763
- PuraPly$479
- PRIMATRIX$380
- INTEGRA DERMAL REGENERATION TEMPLATE$380
- Lapiplasty System$245
- TMC NANOPLASTY SYSTEM$230
- HOFFMANN$153
- STRATAFIX$137
- ANCHORAGE$131
- T2$131
- BIO4$131
- VARIAX$131
- Exogen Ultrasound Bone Healing System$126
- INTEGRA MESHED BILAYER WOUND MATRIX$126
- INTEGRA WOUND MATRIX (IWM)$126
- INTEGRA FLOWABLE WOUND MATRIX$126
- Topical oxygen chamber for extremities$126
- NUZYRA$124
- ARISTA AH FLEXITIP$119
- NEOX$117
How this compares
$10,379 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 862 podiatrist providers in New York.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| JubliaEfinaconazole | 19 | $18,461 |
| Clotrimazole | 208 | $5,400 |
| Ciclopirox | 73 | $4,139 |
| Diclofenac Sodium | 122 | $3,348 |
| Econazole Nitrate | 34 | $1,964 |
| Ketoconazole | 24 | $1,069 |
| Lidocaine | 44 | $840 |
| Colchicine | 40 | $732 |
| Lidocaine-PrilocaineLidocaine/Prilocaine | 22 | $707 |
| Amoxicillin-Clavulanate PotassAmoxicillin/Potassium Clav | 47 | $564 |
| Cephalexin | 73 | $530 |
| CiclopiroxCiclopirox Olamine | 27 | $517 |
| Nabumetone | 29 | $401 |
| Triamcinolone Acetonide | 32 | $347 |
| Meloxicam | 129 | $281 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other podiatrist in Rochester
- Brian HaselsbergerRochester$9K
- Stacey SarmientoRochester$8K
- Michael DanielsRochester$6K
- Christopher BromleyPoughkeepsie$152K
- Scott GawlikBrooklyn$77K
- Waldemar MajdanskiAstoria$71K
- Michael HutzelSeaford$64K
- Donald RubinCorning$53K
- Steven NormanMiddle Village$42K
- Elvis DanneNew York$35K
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.