J&J Buys Mentor, Gets into Aesthetics

The depressed economy has hit all medtech stocks, but some harder than others, in particular, those that rely on nervous consumers to pay out of pocket for elective procedures, namely, medical aesthetics, and refractive surgery. J&J was thus able to acquired breast-implant manufacturer Mentor for much less than it would have had to pay a year ago, when it was first rumored to be looking to get into the aesthetics market.