Ugonna Ihekweazu, MD
Orthopaedic Surgery · Houston, TXNPI 1841558129
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $488,991 of the $543,879 with a category attached, or 89.9%. Medical Device Business Services, Inc. accounts for 91.2% of it on its own, with 18 other manufacturers making up the rest. 2025 is the largest year on record at $310,270, more than ten times the $2,804 reported in 2019. Among orthopaedic surgery clinicians in TX 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 421 payments — averaging $1291.87 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Medical Device Business Services, Inc.$496K
- Depuy Synthes Products, Inc.$30K
- Johnson & Johnson$8K
- Synthes GmbH$4K
- Zimmer Biomet$3K
- Stryker$1K
- plus $1K from 13 others
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$488,99190%
- Speaking & faculty fees$3,0001%
- Travel & lodging$41,5428%
- Food & beverage$10,2332%
- Gifts$1140%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Medical Device Business Services, Inc. | 308 | $496,131 |
| Depuy Synthes Products, Inc. | 46 | $30,455 |
| Johnson & Johnson(2 entities) | 20 | $7,524 |
| Synthes GmbH | 5 | $4,217 |
| Zimmer Biomet | 9 | $2,909 |
| Stryker | 15 | $1,179 |
| Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. | 3 | $277 |
| Abbott | 2 | $229 |
| Smith+Nephew | 2 | $167 |
| Medacta USA, Inc. | 1 | $122 |
| Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC | 1 | $121 |
| Amgen | 1 | $116 |
| Engage Uni, LLC | 1 | $114 |
| Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | 1 | $107 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $88 |
| Pacira Therapeutics, Inc. | 2 | $57 |
| Medinc Of Texas | 1 | $32 |
| Vertex | 1 | $18 |
| Medtronic | 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.
How this compares
$543,879 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 1,337 orthopaedic surgery providers in Texas.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| EliquisApixaban | 24 | $9,372 |
| Ondansetron OdtOndansetron | 300 | $2,499 |
| Meloxicam | 509 | $2,075 |
| Doxycycline Hyclate | 299 | $1,955 |
| Oxycodone-AcetaminophenOxycodone Hcl/Acetaminophen | 230 | $1,457 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 223 | $1,409 |
| Methocarbamol | 209 | $1,077 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 436 | $943 |
| Celecoxib | 18 | $244 |
| Pregabalin | 15 | $241 |
| Methylprednisolone | 31 | $171 |
| Amoxicillin | 90 | $84 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other orthopaedic surgery in Houston
- Stefan KreuzerHouston$6.2M
- Stephen IncavoHouston$4.3M
- Thomas EdwardsHouston$4.1M
- Adam FreedhandHouston$1.8M
- Jeffrey KozakHouston$1.1M
- Travis HansonHouston$1M
- Thomas TanousHouston$698K
- Alan RechterHouston$605K
- Darrell HansonHouston$284K
- Stephen BurkhartSan Antonio$185.3M
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.