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Laboratory Corporation of America-Registered Trademark- Holdings
358 South Main Street
Burlington, NC   27215
Telephone:  336-584-5171


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE              CONTACT:   Pamela Sherry
                                              336-584-5171, Ext. 4855
                        SHAREHOLDER DIRECT:   800-LAB-0401
                                              www.labcorp.com
                                  
 LABCORP-REGISTERED TRADEMARK-'S FORENSIC CRIME LABORATORY RECEIVES
                PRESTIGIOUS DNA TESTING ACCREDITATION


     BURLINGTON, NC, AUGUST 5, 1998 - Laboratory Corporation of
America-Registered Trademark- Holdings (LabCorp-Registered Trademark-)
(NYSE: LH) today announced that its forensic crime laboratory
located at LabCorp's Center for Molecular Biology and Pathology in
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, has been accredited by the
American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, Laboratory
Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB) in the category of DNA testing. Under
the Crime Laboratory Accreditation Program managed by the ASCLD/LAB,
a crime laboratory undergoes a comprehensive and in-depth inspection
to demonstrate that its management, operations, employees, procedures
and instruments, physical plant and security, and personnel safety
procedures meet stringent quality standards.

     "Earning this prestigious accreditation is a significant
milestone for LabCorp," said Dr. Marcia Eisenberg, Director of
LabCorp's Forensic Identity Testing laboratory.  "Our forensic crime
laboratory is differentiated by the premier quality of our people,
our processes, and our knowledge of forensic science.  We are truly
honored to have been granted such a distinguished accreditation."
LabCorp is one of 174 ASCLD accredited crime laboratories worldwide,
and is one of only three private crime laboratories holding the
accreditation.

     ASCLD was established to improve the quality of laboratory
services provided to the criminal justice system.  It also develops
criteria which can be used by a laboratory to assess its level of
performance and strengthen its operation, provides an independent,
impartial, and objective system by which laboratories can benefit
from a total operational review, and offers a means of identifying
those laboratories which have demonstrated that they meet established
standards. Meeting 100 percent of the standards deemed "essential" is
required for the accreditation.  Essential standards directly and
fundamentally affect the work product of the laboratory or the
integrity of the physical evidence.  Accreditation is granted for a
period of five years provided that a laboratory continues to meet the
standards during that period.

     Laboratory Corporation of America-Registered Trademark- Holdings
(LabCorp-Registered Trademark-) is a national clinical laboratory
organization with annual revenues of $1.5 billion in 1997.  The
Company operates primary testing facilities nationally, offering more
than 1,700 different clinical assays, from routine blood analyses 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.
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