Biomet Announces Appellate Court Reduction of Orthofix Award.

WARSAW, Ind.--(BW HealthWire)--June 30, 1999--

Biomet, Inc. ("Biomet") (Nasdaq:BMET) announced today that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (the "Third Circuit") has significantly reduced the judgment previously entered against Biomet and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Electro Biology, Inc. ("EBI") and EBI Medical Systems, Inc. ("EBIMS") (collectively the "Company") and in favor of Orthofix SRL. The Third Circuit upheld the District Court's award of compensatory damages to Orthofix in the amount of $48,875,397. However, it virtually eliminated the $50 million punitive damage award, reducing it to $1 million. In reaching its decision, the Court noted that the damage inflicted on Orthofix was only economic and involved no harm to the public, and also that the jury found "that Orthofix itself breached the distributor agreement, failed to fill and ship EBI's legitimate orders, and engaged in tortious acts." Biomet is currently studying the Third Circuit's decision to determine whether further challenges will be made. At this time, however, Biomet intends to record a $49.9 million charge plus interest against pre-tax earnings for the quarter ended May 31, 1999, to reflect the Third Circuit's decision. It is important to note that this is a one-time financial event and does not affect EBI's sales of the DynaFix product line.

Niles L. Noblitt, Chairman of the Board of Biomet, said, "We are pleased that the Third Circuit recognized that the jury award of punitive damages was unreasonable, even though we continue to disagree with the underlying award of compensatory damages to Orthofix. Most importantly, EBIMS remains the market leader in external fixation with the DynaFix External Fixation System and we will continue to place our focus on producing the best quality products and being highly responsive to our customers."

In a statement by Dane A. Miller, Ph.D., President and CEO of Biomet, he said: "We are disappointed by the Third Circuit's failure to grant relief from the jury award of compensatory damages. As a result of Orthofix's decision not to renew the agreement, the Company was forced to design its own device, and we believe we were ultimately successful in the market because we developed a superior product coupled with unparalleled service, not because we did anything wrong. While we are considering further legal challenges, we will not allow this matter to distract us and will continue to focus our attention on delivering superior medical products and developing new technologies for better orthopedic patient care."

Biomet and its subsidiaries design, manufacture and market products used primarily by orthopedic medical specialists in both surgical and non-surgical therapy, including reconstructive and fixation devices, electrical bone growth stimulators, orthopedic support devices, operating room supplies, spinal implants, general surgical instruments, arthroscopy products, bone cements, bone substitutes and craniomaxillofacial implants and instruments. Headquartered in Warsaw, Indiana, Biomet and its subsidiaries currently distribute products in approximately 100 countries.

For further information contact Greg W. Sasso, Vice President, Corporate Development and Communications, at [phone].

Web site: www.biomet.com or e-mail [e-mail]