

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


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
- ---------------------
Contact:  336-436-4855                  Shareholder Direct: 800-LAB-0401
          Pamela Sherry                                     www.labcorp.com


       LABORATORY CORPORATION OF AMERICA-REGISTERED TRADEMARK- ANNOUNCES
          DEFINITIVE AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE SAN DIEGO-BASED POISONLAB

     -CONTINUES EXPANSION OF SPECIALTY TESTING SERVICES ON THE WEST COAST -

BURLINGTON,  NC,  MARCH   6, 2000 - Laboratory  Corporation  of
America-Registered Trademark- Holdings   (LabCorp-Registered
Trademark-) (NYSE: LH) today announced that it has entered  into
a  definitive agreement with San Diego-based POISONLAB,  Inc.  to
acquire  all  of the stock of POISONLAB's occupational  substance
abuse  and  clinical toxicology testing business.  Terms  of  the
definitive agreement were not disclosed.

POISONLAB,  Inc. is a premiere Substance Abuse and Mental  Health
Services  Administration (SAMHSA) certified reference  toxicology
laboratory  that  provides  forensic drug  testing  and  clinical
therapeutic drug monitoring.  Offering over 400 specialty  tests,
the laboratory is a major drug testing facility on the West Coast
that can accommodate over 7500 specimens a day.  Testing services
include  forensic  toxicology  for pre-employment  drug  testing;
clinical   toxicology  and  therapeutic  drug   monitoring;   and
sensitive  forensic hair testing for drug abuse.  The acquisition
of  POISONLAB expands LabCorp's specialty testing services in the
West,  and  will  complement the capabilities  of  the  company's
Center  for Occupational Testing in North Carolina and additional
testing sites in New Jersey, Tennessee, Florida, and Texas.

"The  incorporation of first-class testing facilities in the West
for   occupational  substance  abuse  testing  is  essential  to
LabCorp's leadership position and growth strategy in this  area,"
said   Randall  Simmons,  senior  vice  president  of   LabCorp's
occupational testing business. "The new facility will allow us to
better service existing national accounts, and provide new growth
opportunities  for  contracts requiring  national  coverage.   By
providing  a  local  base  of  operation  for  specialty  testing
services,  we  also anticipate cost savings to be  realized  from
increased  testing volume, more efficient handling of  specimens,
and faster turn around time."

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Laboratory Corporation of America-Registered Trademark-  Holdings
(LabCorp-Registered Trademark-) is a national clinical laboratory
with  annual  revenues  of $1.7 billion  in  1999.   With  18,000
employees and over 100,000 clients nationwide, the company offers
more than 2,000 clinical tests ranging from simple blood analyses
to  sophisticated  molecular diagnostics. LabCorp  leverages  its
expertise  in innovative clinical testing technology  with  three
Centers  of  Excellence.  The Center for  Molecular  Biology  and
Pathology,  in  Research  Triangle Park  (RTP),  North  Carolina,
develops   applications  for  polymerase  chain  reaction   (PCR)
technology.  Its Center for Occupational Testing in  RTP  is  the
world's largest substance abuse testing facility, and the  Center
for  Esoteric Testing in Burlington, North Carolina, performs the
largest  volume  of specialty testing in the network.   LabCorp's
clients include physicians, state and federal government, managed
care   organizations,  hospitals,  clinics,  pharmaceutical   and
Fortune 1000 companies, and other clinical laboratories.

