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Laboratory Corporation of America-Registered Trademark- Holdings
358 South Main Street
Burlington, NC   27215

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
_____________________
                               CONTACT:   PAMELA SHERRY
                                          336-584-5171, EXT. 4855

                    SHAREHOLDER DIRECT:   800-LAB-0401
                                          WWW.LABCORP.COM
                                        
                                        
LABORATORY CORPORATION OF AMERICA-REGISTERED TRADEMARK- DECLARES PREFERRED
                                STOCK DIVIDENDS


BURLINGTON, NC, AUGUST 20, 1998 - Laboratory Corporation of America-Registered
Trademark- Holdings (LabCorp-Registered Trademark-) (NYSE: LH) today announced
that its Board of Directors has declared a dividend of $1.0625 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
$1.0625 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 0.02125 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, 1998 for each issued and outstanding share 
of Series A and B Preferred Stock to stockholders of record on 
September 21, 1998, and will cover the dividend period from July 1, 1998 to 
September 30, 1998 at an equivalent annualized rate of $4.25 per share.

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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