It's a respectable career and a great career, always has been and always will be. You provide a service people and doctors need and you get to help people so in that sense it's not going downhill.
The job/career outlook however is not as great as it used to be. Years ago there were shortages and you could pretty much name your pay, name your hours, you could work a steady job and then freelance stopping by clinics and doctors office on your way home making $100 per patient.
People heard about the short training and high pay and flooded into schools to become accredited. Schools are churning out way too many graduates so the market is flooded or saturated. Demand changes all the time, maybe some techs realize the job isn't for them maybe others retire. The job market and career outlook may get better.