Say hello to MassDevice +3, a bite-sized view of the top three medtech stories of the day. This feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our 3 biggest and most influential stories from the day’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.

 

3. Baxano Surgical files for bankruptcy, CFO steps down

Baxano said today that it’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid plans to sell of its minimally invasive line of spine surgery devices, as CFO Timothy Shannon and 2 board members resign from the Raleigh, N.C.-based company.

“We believe this is the best course of action for the company at this point in time and is in the best interests of all of our stakeholders,” CEO Ken Reali, President and CEO of Baxano Surgical. “As we move through this transaction process we will continue to focus on supporting our commercial business and the surgeons and hospitals that use our products.” Read more

2. Abbott Vascular lays off 100 in California

Abbott Vascular is laying off about 100 workers at a California plant it acquired when it bought a portion of Guidant Corp. in 2006.

The cuts are part of a restructuring plan for Abbott’s vascular, nutrition and diagnostics units (in 2011, Abbott said it would cut 2% of its global pharmaceutical workforce, eliminating about 1,900 jobs). Read more

1. Feds indict Vascular Solutions, CEO over Vari-Lase

A federal grand jury indicted Vascular Solutions and CEO Howard Root, accusing them of running an off-label promotion scheme for its now-discontinued Vari-Lase varicose vein treatment.

Minneapolis-based Vascular Solutions said that it “vehemently” disagrees with the allegations and “will contest them vigorously,” noting that the Vari-Lase Short Kit brought in only $534,000 from 2007 to July 2014, when the company pulled it from the market. Read more