Vernon Sondak, MD
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by consulting fees: $170,229 of the $220,481 with a category attached, or 77.2%. 22 manufacturers reported payments, led by Merck at 55.8% of the total. Among surgery clinicians in FL 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 224 payments — averaging $984.29 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Merck$123K
- E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C.$26K
- Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc.$22K
- Regeneron$18K
- Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc.$6K
- Novartis$5K
- plus $19K from 16 others
Across 1 payment — averaging $2137.50 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.
- Alkermes, Inc.$2K
What the payments were for
- Consulting fees$170,22977%
- Speaking & faculty fees$4,3612%
- Travel & lodging$39,91318%
- Food & beverage$5,9783%
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Merck | 104 | $123,084 |
| E.r. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C. | 30 | $26,283 |
| Regeneron Healthcare Solutions, Inc. | 14 | $22,387 |
| Regeneron | 12 | $17,534 |
| Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. | 10 | $6,490 |
| Novartis | 13 | $5,215 |
| Alkermes, Inc. | 2 | $4,725 |
| Eisai CO., LTD. | 2 | $3,750 |
| Elucent Medical | 9 | $2,815 |
| Celltrion, Inc. | 1 | $2,700 |
| Pfizer | 3 | $2,083 |
| Array Biopharma Inc | 1 | $1,309 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 11 | $561 |
| Cardinal Health 110 LLC | 2 | $550 |
| Bard Access Systems, Inc. | 2 | $231 |
| Genentech, Inc. | 1 | $191 |
| Sanofi | 2 | $149 |
| Genentech USA, Inc. | 1 | $139 |
| Kyowa Kirin, Inc. | 1 | $116 |
| Solventum Corporation | 1 | $81 |
| Secura Bio, Inc. | 1 | $70 |
| Davol Inc. | 1 | $18 |
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
$220,481 in reported general payments places this provider in the 95th percentile of 1,569 surgery providers in Florida.
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 | 57 | $202 |
| Tramadol Hcl | 14 | $17 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other surgery in Tampa
- Amit TaggarTampa$1.4M
- Richard DiciccoTampa$964K
- Christopher DucoinTampa$808K
- Salvatore DocimoTampa$537K
- Sharona RossTampa$271K
- Adham SaadTampa$167K
- Colby ClarkTampa$110K
- Iswanto SucandyTampa$103K
- Joseph SujkaTampa$101K
- Gopal GrandhigeTampa$93K
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.