News & Events

Franklin Lakes, NJ (July 19, 2002) -- BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX)
BD, like most suppliers in the healthcare industry, contracts with group purchasing organizations at the request of member hospitals. Hospitals decide what medical supplies to buy based on quality, service and price. Group purchasing organizations are used by the member hospitals to obtain lower prices from suppliers.

The fees to Novation cited by The New York Times were entirely legal and proper and in accordance with the terms specified in the contracts. In both instances, they were paid to offset Novation's anticipated losses, resulting from the fact that Novation was switching suppliers. It is incorrect to refer to these contracts as exclusive because Novation member hospitals are able to buy from any supplier they want and are not required to buy anything from BD.

"BD leads the industry in protecting healthcare workers from needlesticks. I am proud of our commitment and service to healthcare workers' safety," said Edward J. Ludwig, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of BD.

From 1996 through 2001, BD sold over 560 million BD SafetyGlide™ needles and BD Safety-Lok™ syringes. No one has ever reported contracting an infectious disease as a result of using these products, which in more than five years of clinical use have a reported needlestick incident rate of only 0.00001 percent.

Contact:

Charles Borgognoni, Corporate Communications - 201.847.6651
Dean Paranicas, Investor Relations - 201.847.7102

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