Vivian Kaul, MD
Otology & Neurotology · Houston, TXNPI 1215381066
Payments from drug & device makers
What this record shows
This record is dominated by food and beverage: $3,960 of the $6,050 with a category attached, or 65.5%. It is spread thinly across 18 manufacturers, the largest accounting for just 21.7%. Reporting peaked in 2024 at $2,584 and has fallen 57.6% since, to $1,096 in 2025.
Across 65 payments — averaging $93.08 each. Meals, travel, consulting and speaking fees, gifts and royalties reported by drug and device makers.
- Cochlear Americas$1K
- Stryker$1K
- GSK$995
- Med-el Corporation$894
- Baxter Healthcare$433
- 3-d Matrix, Inc.$250
- plus $989 from 12 others
What the payments were for
- Speaking & faculty fees$1482%
- Travel & lodging$1,94232%
- Food & beverage$3,96065%
Most of this is food and beverage — typically meals provided during product presentations at a clinic or hospital. Nationally that is the single largest category of reported payments by count.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cochlear Americas | 19 | $1,312 |
| Stryker | 5 | $1,178 |
| GSK | 8 | $995 |
| Med-el Corporation | 7 | $894 |
| Baxter Healthcare | 5 | $433 |
| 3-d Matrix, Inc. | 1 | $250 |
| Axogen | 2 | $164 |
| Aesculap, Inc. | 3 | $158 |
| Integra Lifesciences Corporation | 4 | $155 |
| Carl Zeiss Meditec USA, Inc. | 1 | $148 |
| Advanced Bionics, LLC | 2 | $112 |
| Acclarent, Inc | 1 | $81 |
| Optinose US, Inc. | 2 | $53 |
| Smith+Nephew | 1 | $29 |
| Iotamotion, Inc. | 1 | $27 |
| AbbVie | 1 | $25 |
| Novo Nordisk | 1 | $19 |
| Pfizer | 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.
- CORE$1,079
- Cochlear Nucleus CI632 cochlear implant with Slim Modiolar electrode$912
- Baha$912
- OSIA OSI300 IMPLANT$912
- Mi1250 SYNCHRONY 2 FLEXsoft$726
- NUCALA$622
- BCI 602 Kit$611
- ADHEAR Professional Kit$457
- AREXVY$248
- KINEVO 900$148
- PerClot$144
- TISSEEL$129
- SHINGRIX$125
- PROGAV 2.0$115
How this compares
$6,050 in reported general payments places this provider in the 80th percentile of 33 otology & neurotology 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Ofloxacin | 41 | $1,228 |
| Fluticasone Propionate | 15 | $227 |
| Hydrocodone-AcetaminophenHydrocodone/Acetaminophen | 14 | $63 |
Paid to pharmacies, not to this prescriber.
Other otology & neurotology in Houston
- Mark NicholsHouston$5K
- Kenny LinHouston$2K
- George McReynoldsHouston$2K
- Nathan LindquistHouston$2K
- Marc Elie NaderHouston$1K
- Angela PengHouston$637
- Chenxi YouHouston$541
- Bechara GhorayebHouston$215
- Brandon IsaacsonDallas$98K
- Joe KutzDallas$95K
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.