Sanford Zeigler, MD
Thoracic Surgery (Cardiothoracic Vascular Surgery) · Charleston, SCNPI 1114216454
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — consulting fees (31.0%), food and beverage and speaking fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 24 manufacturers reported payments, led by Medtronic at 34.3% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $20,927, more than ten times the $725 reported in 2019. Among thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) clinicians in SC with any reported payments, this total sits in the top 10% — high for the specialty, which is a reason to read the composition above rather than the number alone.
Across 150 payments — averaging $202.45 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medtronic$10K
- Cook Incorporated$7K
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$4K
- Atricure, Inc.$4K
- Paragonix Technologies, Inc.$815
- Baxter Healthcare$550
- plus $3K from 18 others
Across 8 payments — averaging $10,758 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.
- Artivion, Inc.$53K
- W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.$33K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$9,40031%
- Speaking & faculty fees$7,14024%
- Travel & lodging$4,89116%
- Food & beverage$8,86029%
- Education$760%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medtronic(2 entities) | 24 | $10,403 |
| Cook Incorporated | 1 | $7,140 |
| W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. | 25 | $4,372 |
| Atricure, Inc. | 43 | $3,634 |
| Paragonix Technologies, Inc. | 6 | $815 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 4 | $550 |
| Cook Medical LLC | 10 | $477 |
| Abbott | 3 | $355 |
| Corcym Inc | 2 | $330 |
| Edwards Lifesciences | 9 | $287 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 2 | $250 |
| Bolton Medical Inc | 4 | $234 |
| Artivion, Inc. | 3 | $193 |
| Clearflow Inc. | 1 | $192 |
| Jenavalve Technology, Inc. | 1 | $179 |
| Livanova USA, Inc. | 2 | $169 |
| Abiomed | 1 | $147 |
| LSI Solutions Inc | 2 | $145 |
| Philips North America LLC | 1 | $119 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $101 |
| Helios Cardio Inc | 1 | $88 |
| Boston Scientific | 1 | $79 |
| Davol Inc. | 2 | $76 |
| Lemaitre Vascular, Inc. | 1 | $33 |
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.
- Valiant Captivia$7,897
- ATRICLIP LAA EXCLUSION SYSTEM$2,308
- ENDURANT IIS$1,819
- Product in Development$1,779
- Paragonix SherpaPak Cardiac Transport System$873
- GORE TAG Conformable Thoracic Endoprosthesis$852
- LUNGguard$594
- GORE TAG Thoracic Endoprosthesis$585
- SYNERGY ABLATION SYSTEM$531
- FLOSEAL$303
- Perceval$279
- PREVELEAK$247
- GORE VIABAHN VBX Balloon Expandable Endo$245
- SherpaCool Box$239
- Pleuraflow System with FlowGlide$192
- MI DETACH - AORTIC CROSS CLAMP - DELIVERY SYSTEM KIT$191
- Edwards SAPIEN 3 Ultra Transcatheter Heart Valve$186
- Epic$185
- JenaValve Pericardial TAVR System$179
- SherpaPak$172
How this compares
$30,367 in reported general payments places this provider in the 90th percentile of 83 thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in South Carolina.
See all thoracic surgery (cardiothoracic vascular surgery) providers in South Carolina →
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 Charleston
- Curtis QuinnCharleston$374K
- Marc KatzCharleston$265K
- Arman KilicCharleston$170K
- Barry GibneyCharleston$39K
- Jacob KlapperCharleston$38K
- Kathryn EngelhartdtCharleston$33K
- Elizabeth KlineCharleston$16K
- Alexander SbrocchiCharleston$14K
- Scott RossCharleston$12K
- Sarah ChenCharleston$8K
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.