

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 PATHOLOGY MEDICAL
                          LABORATORIES


 Third California Acquisition This Year Continues LabCorp's West
                         Coast Expansion

Burlington, NC, May 4, 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  Pathology  Medical
Laboratories (PML) to acquire PML's laboratory testing  business.
The transaction is scheduled to be finalized on or about June  1,
2000,   and   is  contingent  on  the  satisfaction  of   certain
conditions.    Terms  of  the  definitive  agreement   were   not
disclosed.

"The  combination of LabCorp and PML will further strengthen  our
laboratory   services  in  Southern  California  with  additional
testing  and  patient  service sites,"  said  Richard  L.  Novak,
executive vice president and chief operating officer of  LabCorp.
"Our  recent acquisitions in this key region continue to  improve
capacity  utilization  as  we move to broadly  offer  the  latest
testing and information technologies available today."

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

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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.

Each of the above forward-looking statements is subject to change
based on various important factors, including without limitation,
competitive actions in the marketplace and adverse actions of
governmental and other third-party payors.  Further information
on potential factors that could affect LabCorp's financial
results is included in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 1999 and subsequent SEC filings.



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