Bio-Plexus Supports Petition Calling for Immediate Ban of Unsafe Medical Needles.

Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers

BIOWIRE2K

VERNON, Conn.--(BW HealthWire)--Dec. 1, 2000

Bio-Plexus, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPLX), a leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of safety medical needles and other products, today announced its support of the petition filed yesterday by Public Citizen, a consumer group, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calling for the immediate ban of unsafe medical needles to protect health care workers from contracting deadly diseases from accidental needlesticks. The petition urges the FDA to remove from the market all unsafe intravenous catheters, blood collection devices, blood collection needle sets (also known as butterfly syringes), glass capillary tubes and intravenous infusion equipment. The petition also asks the FDA to issue performance standards to ensure that similar unsafe devices do not enter the market.

In the petition it was reported that U.S. health care workers sustain 590,000 needlesticks annually. (Some sources believe that the number of needlesticks that actually occur is seriously understated.) The petition also stated the following: that of the 55 confirmed cases of occupational HIV transmission, 49 cases involved sharp object injuries such as needlesticks; an estimated 100-200 health care workers die annually from hepatitis B; and hundreds annually contract hepatitis C. Public Citizen and the SEIU properly note that the incidence of death and suffering from these diseases is unnecessary because safer alternatives to commonly used needle technology currently exist, such as self-blunting needles.

The petition further states, "The AIDS epidemic has generated renewed interest in worker safety in this area, and the result has been the development of a number of well-designed, FDA-approved devices that have been demonstrated to reduce the incidence of needlesticks to workers by as much as 90%, depending on the device. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which has developed a Bloodborne Pathogens Standard focused primarily on changing work practices, admits that `as many as 60 percent of needlestick injuries would be unaffected by improved work practice procedures.' For the FDA not to ban the more dangerous alternatives is to abdicate its responsibility to protect those who care for the nation's sick and dying."

Bio-Plexus manufactures safety needles using its patented PUNCTUR-GUARD(R) technology, which greatly reduces the risk of accidental needlesticks by internally blunting the needle prior to its removal from the patient. The Company has been at the forefront of marketing safety devices designed to save lives since 1991.

John S. Metz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bio-Plexus, stated, "In calling on the FDA to take action, Public Citizen and the SEIU are echoing the sentiments of the many dedicated health care workers who are exposed to the danger of accidental needlesticks. We wholeheartedly support their petition. This is a matter of high importance and high visibility, as evidenced by the recent signing into law of The Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act by President Clinton. In addition, 17 states have enacted needlestick legislation regarding the use of safety engineered needle-based medical devices."

Bio-Plexus, Inc. (NASDAQ:BPLX), designs, develops, manufactures and holds U.S. and international patents on safety medical needles and other products under the PUNCTUR-GUARD(R), DROP-IT(R), and PUNCTUR-GUARD REVOLUTION(TM) brand names. In studies by the Centers for Disease Control (MMWR, January 1997) and ECRI (Health Devices, June 1998 and October 1999) PUNCTUR-GUARD(R) needles ranked highest in safety of all devices studied. Accidental needlesticks number about one million per year in the United States and can result in the transmission of deadly diseases including HIV and Hepatitis B and C.

NOTE: THIS PRESS RELEASE MAY CONTAIN FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS MAY BE IDENTIFIED BY THE USE OF SUCH TERMINOLOGY AS "BELIEVES," "EXPECTS," "MAY," "WILL," "SHOULD," "ANTICIPATES,""PLANS," "ESTIMATES," AND "INTENDS" OR DERIVATIONS OR NEGATIVES THEREOF OR COMPARABLE TERMINOLOGY, OR DISCUSSIONS OF STRATEGY THAT INVOLVES RISKS (KNOWN AND UNKNOWN) AND UNCERTAINTIES. THE COMPANY'S ACTUAL RESULTS MAY DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE PROJECTED IN THE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AS A RESULT OF, AMONG OTHER FACTORS, GENERAL ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND GROWTH IN THE SAFETY MEDICAL PRODUCTS INDUSTRY, COMPETITIVE FACTORS AND PRICING PRESSURES, CHANGES IN PRODUCT MIX, PRODUCT DEMAND, RISK OF DEPENDENCE ON THIRD PARTY SUPPLIERS AND FINANCIERS, ABILITY TO OBTAIN FINANCING, AS WELL AS OTHER FACTORS DESCRIBED FROM TIME TO TIME IN THE COMPANY'S PERIODIC REPORTS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OR DISCUSSED IN OTHER PRESS RELEASES ISSUED BY THE COMPANY. THE COMPANY UNDERTAKES NO OBLIGATION TO UPDATE OR ADVISE UPON ANY SUCH FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT.