June 4, 2008 -- Boston Scientific announced yesterday that Chief Operating Officer Paul LaViolette, 50, will be retiring at the end of this month and his duties will be assumed by current President and CEO Jim Tobin, who will remain in his position "for the foreseeable future". The position of COO, held by LaViolette since 2005, will not be replaced. LaViolette will serve as a senior adviser to Boston Scientific through December 31 and, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, will receive separation payments of $5.4 million and $1.8 million over the next two years, assuming he is in compliance with "the non-competition, non-solicitation, non-disparagement and assignment requirements set forth in the Separation Agreement."

Paul LaViolette

LaViolette's career in the device field began in the early days of angioplasty, when he joined USCI Division of C.R. Bard, the company that introduced the Gruentzig balloon catheter and coronary angioplasty into the U.S. He served USCI in several capacities, ultimately as president. He joined Boston Scientific in 1994. Pete Nicholas, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Boston Scientific, stated in a press release that, "Paul LaViolette has served this Company with passion and enthusiasm for almost 15 years, and as a friend and colleague I want to thank him for all he has done."

LaViolette's departure took some analysts and members of the investment community by surprise, according to an article in today's Wall Street Journal. Some expressed that they "thought he was being groomed" as the next CEO and wondered that this "departure may raise questions about succession planning."

In September, Burt Cohen of Angioplasty.Org sat down with Paul LaViolette during a special weekend celebration in Zurich, Switzerland: the 30th Anniversary of Coronary Angioplasty. LaViolette, who was invited to participate, reflected back on interventional cardiology over the past three decades, how device companies and physicians have developed the field together to change cardiology and where things may be moving in the future. Video excerpts from that conversation follow (running time 7:49).

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