The medical device industry as a whole is under fire. Pricing pressures, the ongoing European recession, and tough competition have all come together to hit revenues at leading device makers. Medtronic (MDT +0.57%) hasn't been immune to those damages as the largest pure medical device maker, and its spine business -- its second-largest segment by sales -- has seen revenue fall 5% over the last nine months as a result.
What's Medtronic's response? The company plans to cut 230 jobs at its spine business and slash costs by 5% in order to compensate for the falling sales. With other companies in the industry also seeing spine revenue lagging -- Stryker's (SYK +0.44%) own spine sales fell 4% in 2012 -- will this measure be enough? Motley Fool contributor Dan Carroll and health care analyst Max Macaluso discuss this question and more in the video below.
