Smith & Nephew CEO Olivier Bohuon says recently announced layoffs aren’t the result of the medical device tax, despite previous company statements linking the 2.3% levy with the cuts. Last week a Smith & Nephew spokesman told MassDevice.com that the job cuts were aimed at offsetting the impact of the tax, a 2.3% levy on all U.S. sales that went into effect Jan. 1 as part of the healthcare reform law. “The nearly $30 billion tax on medical devices that took effect Jan. 1, 2013, has impacted a number of companies across the U.S.,” spokesman Joe Metzger told us. “Smith & Nephew is not immune from this added expense burden.”
