Ray Sawaqed, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Palos Heights, ILNPI 1023109899
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — food and beverage (55.6%), travel and lodging and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 13 manufacturers reported payments, led by Edwards Lifesciences at 38.2% of the total.
Across 76 payments — averaging $106.22 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Edwards Lifesciences$3K
- Medtronic$2K
- Artivion, Inc.$1K
- Abiomed$969
- Abbott$332
- Bolton Medical Inc$133
- plus $408 from 7 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$3,55144%
- Food & beverage$4,48956%
- Education$330%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Edwards Lifesciences | 25 | $3,086 |
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 20 | $1,930 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 7 | $1,214 |
| Abiomed | 9 | $969 |
| Abbott | 5 | $332 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 1 | $133 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 1 | $123 |
| Amgen | 1 | $106 |
| Getinge USA Sales, LLC | 3 | $90 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $33 |
| Stryker | 1 | $23 |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| ZOLL Services LLC (a/k/a ZOLL Lifecor Corp) | 1 | $12 |
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.
- CoreValve Evolut$1,238
- MITRIS RESILIA Mitral Valve$1,212
- Cardiac non-SynerGraft$655
- Impella$574
- ON-X AORTIC HEART VALVE WITH CONFORM-X SEWING RING AND EXTENDED HOLDER$395
- SAPIEN 3 Ultra RESILIA$364
- MitraClip$283
- AMDS-Ascyrus Medical$272
- BIOGLUE SURGICAL ADHESIVE$197
- Avalus$160
- COREVALVE EVOLUT R$146
- INSPIRIS RESILIA aortic valve$135
- RELAY THORACIC STENT-GRAFT WITH PLUS DELIVERY SYSTEM$133
- LifeSPARC$123
- Otezla$106
- Carpentier-Edwards Physio II Annuloplasty Ring$101
How this compares
$8,073 in reported general payments places this provider in the 65th percentile of 220 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Illinois.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in Illinois →
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 Palos Heights
- Franjo SiricPalos Heights$22K
- Nandan NathPalos Heights$15K
- James GrammOlympia Fields$386K
- Jessica DoningtonChicago$314K
- S Christopher MalaisrieChicago$254K
- Patrick McCarthyChicago$241K
- Samuel KimChicago$221K
- Andrew ArndtWinfield$206K
- Douglas JohnstonChicago$205K
- Gianluca TorregrossaChicago$197K
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.