ChemTrak Corrects and Replaces Previous Parent's Alert Home Drug Test Service Announcement.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Oct. 6, 1997--ChemTrak, Inc. (NASDAQ:CMTR) is proud to announce today that CVS, the nation's largest national drug store chain, is rolling out the Parent's Alert(R) Home Drug Test Service to all of its 3,900 stores nationwide.

The Parent's Alert Home Drug Test Service is a comprehensive program that consists of three essential building blocks:

-- Educational information that equips parents with the facts and competencies to talk confidently with their children about drugs;

-- Comprehensive counseling services to answer questions and provide on-going support tailored to the needs of each family;

-- A home drug test that detects the eight drugs used most commonly by teens from LSD to marijuana.

These tools will facilitate the open dialogue necessary between parents and children to help families deal proactively with the risks of drug use before it becomes a problem in the home.

Parent's Alert was created by a concerned mother -- Sunny L. Cloud, of Smyrna, Ga. -- in the aftermath of her personal experience with her son's drug use. "When I discovered my son doing drugs I realized we as parents are handling drugs backwards," Cloud said. "We wait until the problem exists and then react to it. Why aren't we proactively preventing drug use in the first place?" she asks.

Determined to help other parents avoid the pain and anguish she encountered, she created a program parents could use in the privacy of their homes to proactively prevent their children from using drugs.

The result of her personal commitment is the Parent's Alert Home Drug Test Service. After managing Parent's Alert out of her home for nearly three years, Cloud chose to partner with ChemTrak, Inc., a leader in home diagnostics to make the program available to more parents via broad national distribution.

"I am thrilled that parents all over the country will now have the tools to fight the drug problem privately in their families," she said.

The drug problem in the United States has reached epidemic proportions. The problem is particularly disturbing among young children. A study by the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) states that 23.5 percent of 12-year-olds have a friend or classmate who has used LSD, cocaine or heroin. The Partnership for a Drug Free America reports that one out of every four 9 to 12-year-olds was offered drugs last year.

The President and CEO of ChemTrak, Edward F. Covell, said, "We believe Parent's Alert can make a positive impact on the drug problem in this country, especially among young children. By empowering parents to communicate with their children about the dangers and consequences of using drugs, we believe we can prevent many young children from trying drugs in the first place."

Parent's Alert empowers parents by providing a service which can be used as a backbone of a family drug policy.

"By firmly setting limits and boundaries around drugs with their children and establishing how the test will be used in the home, parents will be taking active steps to prevent drug use," Covell said. "In fact, in focus groups, children have told us it gives them a good excuse to say to their peers, 'no, I can't, my parents have a drug test at home.'"

The shipment of Parent's Alert marks the second major product release in 1997. ChemTrak, founded in 1985 is a full-service medical diagnostics company offering reliable and easy-to-use medical testing systems for in-home use.

Its current products include the CholesTrak, Home Cholesterol Test Kit, and the ColoCARE Home Test to detect the early warning signs of colorectal disease. ChemTrak's medical test kits are designed to screen and diagnose health conditions with accuracy comparable to physician and laboratory-administered tests.

Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results might differ materially from these statements due to the risks and uncertainties, including determinations by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the impact of competitive product and pricing, the timely development and acceptance of new products and medical market conditions and other factors discussed in the company's Form 10-K.

CONTACT: ChemTrak, Inc.

Donald V. Fluken, 408/773-8156

or

Neale-May & Partners

Dick Claeys, 650/328-5555 ext.125

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