Vahagn Nikolian, MD
Surgery · Portland, ORNPI 1255692323
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
The money is spread across several categories — speaking fees (55.9%), education and consulting fees — rather than concentrated in one kind of arrangement. 5 manufacturers reported payments, led by Intuitive Surgical at 37.6% of the total. 2025 is the largest year on record at $111,987, more than ten times the $1,659 reported in 2021. Among surgery clinicians in OR 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 245 payments — averaging $1132.46 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Intuitive Surgical$104K
- Davol Inc.$83K
- AbbVie$54K
- Medtronic$35K
- TELA Bio, Inc.$286
Across 5 payments — averaging $1344.00 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.
- Medtronic$7K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$28,10510%
- Speaking & faculty fees$155,10056%
- Travel & lodging$23,1918%
- Food & beverage$7,1163%
- Education$63,94023%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Intuitive Surgical | 118 | $104,382 |
| Davol Inc. | 60 | $83,409 |
| AbbVie(2 entities) | 36 | $54,098 |
| Medtronic | 29 | $35,277 |
| TELA Bio, Inc. | 2 | $286 |
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.
- Da Vinci Surgical System$86,479
- NATRELLE SALINE-FILLED BREAST IMPLANTS$63,202
- STRATTICE RECONSTRUCTIVE TISSUE MATRIX BPS$53,560
- REVOLVE$34,719
- ProGrip$30,480
- DA VINCI SP$16,750
- ALLODERM$6,981
- Phasix Mesh$2,337
- ARISTA$999
- ARISTA AH FLEXITIP$299
- OviTex 2S$173
- OviTex Reinforced Bioscaffold With Permanent Polymer (OviTex)$113
How this compares
$277,452 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 386 surgery providers in Oregon.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ibuprofen | 23 | $185 |
| Oxycodone Hcl | 37 | $143 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgery in Portland
- Robert MartindalePortland$795K
- Sean OrensteinPortland$480K
- Sabrina DrexelPortland$170K
- Avishai MeyerPortland$159K
- Farah HusainPortland$147K
- Emma PattersonPortland$65K
- Daniel TsengPortland$64K
- Ryland StuckePortland$58K
- Donn SpightPortland$48K
- Christy DunstPortland$46K
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.