


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                        Contact:     Pamela Sherry
                                                     910-584-5171, Ext.4855


               LABORATORY CORPORATION OF AMERICA-TM- DECLARES
                          PREFERRED STOCK DIVIDENDS


BURLINGTON, NC, AUGUST 25, 1997 _ Laboratory Corporation of America-TM-
Holdings (LabCorp-TM-) (NYSE: LH) today announced that its Board of
Directors has declared a dividend of $1.18056 per share on the Company's
8 1/2% Series A Convertible Exchangeable Preferred Stock (Series A Preferred
Stock), payable in cash.  The Board has also declared a dividend of $1.18056
per share on the Company's 8 1/2% Series B Convertible Pay-in-Kind Preferred
Stock (Series B Preferred Stock), payable in shares of Series B Preferred
Stock at the rate of 0.02361 shares per share of Series B Preferred Stock
held.  No fractional shares of Series B Preferred Stock will be issued, so
that the number of shares to be paid as a dividend on the Series B Preferred
Stock will be rounded to the nearest whole number of shares.  The dividends
will be payable on September 30, 1997 for each issued and outstanding share
of Series A and B Preferred Stock to stockholders of record on September 19,
1997, and will cover the dividend period from the date of issuance to
September 30, 1997 at an equivalent annualized rate of $4.25 per share.

Laboratory Corporation of America-TM- Holdings (LabCorp-TM-) is a national
clinical laboratory organization with revenues of $1.6 billion in 1996.  The
Company operates primary testing facilities nationally, offering more than
1,700 different clinical assays, from routine blood analysis to more
sophisticated technologies.  LabCorp performs diagnostic tests for
physicians, managed care organizations, hospitals, clinics, long-term care
facilities, industrial companies and other clinical laboratories.



