Ray Blackwell, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Newark, DENPI 1033200084
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
11 manufacturers reported payments, led by Artivion, Inc. at 58.7% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2023 at $2,356 and has fallen 72.8% since, to $641 in 2025.
Across 63 payments — averaging $64.39 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Artivion, Inc.$2K
- Abiomed$513
- Abbott$488
- Edwards Lifesciences$344
- Medtronic$100
- Getinge USA Sales, LLC$84
- plus $146 from 5 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$1,89947%
- Food & beverage$2,15753%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Artivion, Inc. | 14 | $2,381 |
| Abiomed | 24 | $513 |
| Abbott | 8 | $488 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 6 | $344 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $100 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 3 | $84 |
| BD | 2 | $40 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 2 | $38 |
| Surgical Specialties Corporation (US), Inc. (dba Corza Medical) | 1 | $29 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 1 | $26 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 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.
- Cardiac non-SynerGraft$1,873
- THORATEC HEARTMATE 3 LVAS IMPLANT KIT$255
- EVOQUE$166
- MitraClip$127
- Impella$115
- Avalus$100
How this compares
$4,057 in reported general payments places this provider in the 60th percentile of 23 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Delaware.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Delaware →
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 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) in Newark
- John PoolNewark$42K
- Brian NamNewark$28K
- Charles MulliganNewark$14K
- Li ZhangNewark$11K
- Thomas BauerNewark$8K
- Alain AsherNewark$3K
- Michael SanusiNewark$2K
- Ahmad KhanNewark$2K
- Joseph CosticNewark$2K
- Fernando GarziaRehoboth Beach$28K
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.