Stephen Wheelis, MD
Surgery · Alexandria, LANPI 1174010318
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — travel and lodging (53.8%), food and beverage and education — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 18 manufacturers reported payments, led by Davol Inc. at 43.8% of the total. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $2,958 and has fallen 73.9% since, to $773 in 2025.
Across 85 payments — averaging $101.25 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Davol Inc.$4K
- BD$2K
- Intuitive Surgical$1K
- Stryker$175
- Conmed Corporation$148
- Kerecis Limited$139
- plus $541 from 12 others
What the payments were for
- Travel & lodging$4,63354%
- Food & beverage$3,89645%
- Education$681%
- Gifts$90%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Davol Inc. | 25 | $3,767 |
| BD | 25 | $2,410 |
| Intuitive Surgical | 10 | $1,427 |
| Stryker | 1 | $175 |
| Conmed Corporation | 1 | $148 |
| Kerecis Limited | 2 | $139 |
| La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company | 1 | $95 |
| AstraZeneca | 2 | $89 |
| Merck | 4 | $77 |
| Solventum Corporation | 3 | $56 |
| Stemline Therapeutics Inc. | 3 | $49 |
| Vertex | 2 | $36 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 1 | $35 |
| Bayer | 1 | $26 |
| Medtronic | 1 | $24 |
| Chiesi USA, Inc. | 1 | $20 |
| Johnson & Johnson | 1 | $18 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 1 | $17 |
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.
- Phasix Mesh$5,033
- Da Vinci Surgical System$1,035
- Kerecis SurgiClose$482
- SPY-PHI SYSTEM$175
- CONMED SMOKE EVACUATION$148
- AIRSEAL$148
- Kerecis GraftGuide$121
How this compares
$8,606 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 381 surgery providers in Louisiana.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 32 | $147 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgery in Alexandria
- John TaborBaton Rouge$567K
- Carlos GalvaniNew Orleans$352K
- Mark HausmannBaton Rouge$250K
- Joseph BuellNew Orleans$186K
- Daryl MarxBaton Rouge$157K
- Matias NautsLake Charles$112K
- Tracee ShortBaton Rouge$108K
- Kamel BraktaShreveport$95K
- Kerry ThibodeauxOpelousas$84K
- Michael CookNew Orleans$84K
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.