NEW PALTZ, N.Y., June 9, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- American Scientific Resources, Inc. (Pink Sheets:ASRO) announced today that the Surgical/Medical Division of Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE:CAH) the nation's leading health care products provider, has initiated an order for 12 of the company's new line of testing products. The products offer a safer, more accurate approach for performing a hematology lab test used to evaluate the extent of a variety of potential diseases according to Peter Lordi, President of American Scientific Resources. Twelve catalog numbers have been assigned by Cardinal's surgical supply group, covering both the improved classic manual approach as well as a high-speed electronic instrumentation.
"This order brings us full circle," Lordi said. "We now have a pipeline penetrating doctors offices, research facilities, industrial laboratories, hospitals, and the OTC market giving us the type of distribution channels that most companies can only dream about. Recognizing new opportunities and launching new products will be easier and more effective based on the type of strategic relationships we have forged. We continue to be committed to finding further technologies that will enhance our company's ability to be recognized as a major contender in the medical/scientific marketplace."
The 12 innovative products Cardinal Health will stock have to do with a laboratory procedure to determine a person's erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). The test remains helpful in the diagnosis of a few conditions including temporal arteritis, polymyalgia rheumatica and possibly rheumatoid arthritis. It may predict relapse in patients with Hodgkin's disease. Some studies suggest that the test may be useful as a "sickness index" in the elderly or as a screening tool for a few specific infections in certain settings.
The ESR test now can be safely performed in a doctor's office in less than ten minutes offering a clinician timely data. A high ESR test result will prompt the clinician to consider more specific tests while the patient is still present. Many inflammatory disease states are not reflected by body temperature or other visible clinical indications.
This is not the first time Lordi has dealt with Cardinal Health. Lordi has a twenty-five year track record of spearheading new technologies to hospitals, office based clinicians and to the OTC market through Ulster Scientific (now a division of American Scientific Resources), which was the first company to make blood glucose testing possible for diabetics at home. During that period he introduced a number of unique products to The American Hospital Supply Corporation, which became Baxter Healthcare Corporation. The relationship generated approximately $500 million in product sales. In 1992 Ulster was awarded Baxter's national marketing award. In 1996, Allegiance Healthcare spun off from Baxter and was ultimately purchased by Cardinal Health.
About Cardinal Health, Inc.:
Cardinal Health, Inc. (www.cardinal.com) is the leading provider of products and services supporting the health care industry. Cardinal Health develops, manufactures, packages and markets products for patient care; develops drug-delivery technologies; distributes pharmaceuticals, medical- surgical and laboratory supplies; and offers consulting and other services that improve quality and efficiency in health care. Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Cardinal Health employs more than 50,000 people on five continents and produces annual revenues of more than $50 billion. Cardinal Health is ranked No. 17 on the 2004 Fortune 500 list and was named one of the best U.S. companies by Forbes magazine for 2004.
About American Scientific Resources, Inc.:
American Scientific Resources, Inc., (www.AmericanSci.com) based in upstate New York, is an emerging medical products manufacturer and distributor. The company has developed a line of cutting edge, patented products that are easy to use and cost effective. Each line of products fills a current need acknowledged by clinical or medical professionals and targets a specific market; pediatrics, hospital/laboratory and home health. A number of upscale pediatric products from the Kidz-Med product line are currently available at CVS nationwide.