ALARIS Medical ``Smart'' Technology Helping Clarian Health and Other Hospitals Take Medication Safety to a New Level.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

SAN DIEGO--(BW HealthWire)--April 4, 2002

ALARIS Medical Inc. (AMEX:AMI) said today that its MEDLEY(TM) Medication Safety System with its proprietary Guardrails(TM) Safety Software was recently featured at a press conference conducted by Clarian Health Partners in Indianapolis.

The Clarian Health System is the ninth largest health care system in the United States and a world leader in defining and implementing safer medication practices. Methodist Hospital of Indianapolis, one of Clarian Health Partners, is the first facility in the United States to implement the MEDLEY Medication Safety System with Guardrails Safety Software on a hospital-wide (or "whole house") basis. Methodist Hospital reported that its whole house implementation was accomplished in less than one day and that tangible patient safety benefits were seen on the first day of use.

The MEDLEY Medication Safety System is the first in a series of "smart" intravenous infusion devices that ALARIS Medical Systems(R) plans to introduce over the next several years. These "smart pumps" will all feature ALARIS Medical's proprietary Guardrails Safety Software as the critical component to reduce medication errors.

The Clarian announcement, covered by nation-wide press affiliates, reported that the MEDLEY system "...is designed to reduce the number of IV medication errors through a self-check feature that prevents caregivers from administering the incorrect dosage of medication to patients."

Speaking about MEDLEY and the Clarian installation, Dave Schlotterbeck, ALARIS Medical Systems' chief executive officer, affirmed that, "We are making it our business to protect patients, caregivers and institutions from medication error."

Patient safety has become an increasingly important issue in health care. The Institute of Medicine's 1999 publication, To Err is Human, pointed out that medical errors result in more than 50,000 deaths annually, making it the eighth-leading cause of death in the United States. Medication errors, in particular, can occur anywhere between the doctor writing a prescription and the patient actually receiving the medicine, and drug administration errors are the least likely to be caught. Since the administration of intravenous therapy involves powerful drugs flowing directly into the patient's bloodstream, IV medication errors pose a significant area of concern. Studies from leading medical institutions in the United States indicate that the delivery of intravenous drugs represents about 31 percent of all the serious and life-threatening medication errors.

The Guardrails Safety Software resides in the MEDLEY Medication Safety System and functions at the bedside to perform a "test of reasonableness" before allowing infusion to begin. If a mistake is made in programming an IV infusion, the Guardrails Safety Software alerts the caregiver that the dose is outside of the institution's established limits and provides the correct dose limits for the specific type of patient. In addition, the proprietary Guardrails Event Log documents the potential errors that were prevented, which assists the hospital in meeting new safety improvement regulations now required by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

"Smart" infusion pumps are an important new way to prevent medication errors. As stated in the February 2002 "Medication Safety Alert" from The Institute for Safe Medication Practices, "With (computerized prescriber order entry), bar coding and 'smart' infusion pumps, we may finally have a solid defense against the most serious medication errors."

ALARIS Medical Inc., through its wholly owned operating company, ALARIS Medical Systems Inc., is a leading developer, manufacturer and provider of integrated intravenous infusion therapy and patient monitoring instruments and related disposables, accessories and services. ALARIS Medical's primary brands, ALARIS(R), IMED(R) and IVAC(R), are recognized throughout the world. ALARIS Medical's products are distributed in more than 120 countries worldwide. In addition to its San Diego world headquarters and manufacturing facility, ALARIS Medical also operates manufacturing facilities in Creedmoor, N.C.; Basingstoke, U.K.; and Tijuana, Mexico. Additional information on ALARIS Medical can be found at www.alarismed.com/.

This news release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Persons reading this release are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including the effect of legislative and regulatory changes affecting the health care industry, the potential of increased levels of competition, technological changes, the dependence of ALARIS Medical upon the success of new products (including its proprietary Guardrails(TM) Safety Software and the MEDLEY(TM) Medication Safety System) and ongoing research and development efforts including obtaining regulatory approvals, restrictions contained in the instruments governing the Company's indebtedness, and the significant leverage to which the Company is subject. Such risk factors are detailed in the Securities and Exchange Commission filings of ALARIS Medical, Inc. and ALARIS Medical Systems, Inc., including Forms 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001, and other filings. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or developments.