Press Release Details

Quest Diagnostics Appoints Renowned Cancer Scientist, Maher Albitar, M.D., Medical Director for Hematopathology

09/30/2003

TETERBORO, N.J., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), the nation's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, today announced the appointment of Maher Albitar, M.D., a renowned cancer scientist, to Medical Director for Hematopathology.

Previously, Dr. Albitar was a tenured professor at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he served as Chief of the Leukemia Section in the Department of Hematopathology, with a Joint appointment in the Department of Leukemia. Dr. Albitar is a recipient of a Physician Scientist Award from the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Albitar is responsible for leading the hematopathology department and coordinating the efforts of 20 hematopathologists throughout the Quest Diagnostics national network of laboratories. Under his direction, Quest Diagnostics will further expand its state-of-the-art menu of hematopathology technologies and tests that can help to render an accurate cancer diagnosis, including, bone marrow pathology, flow cytometry, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, and Fluorescence in situ Hybridization (FISH) testing.

Dr. Albitar is based at Quest Diagnostics Nichols Institute in San Juan Capistrano, California, the company's center for research and development and one of its two full-service esoteric testing laboratories. Dr. Albitar will draw upon his extensive expertise in hematopathology research, discovery and invention to consult with physician customers in the diagnosis and management of hematologic malignancies, including lymphomas and leukemias.

Dr. Albitar has served as an expert on several national committees and editorial boards. He is the lead author of more than 150 peer-reviewed papers, which have been published in prominent medical journals, including Blood, Cancer, Leukemia, The European Journal of Hematology, Molecular and Cellular Biology and The New England Journal of Medicine. He has published extensively on angiogenesis in leukemia and he was the first to report on the presence of the circulating CD20 and CD52 diagnostic markers and their impact on the development of antibody-based therapy.

Dr. Albitar received his medical degree in 1979 from Damascus Medical School in Damascus, Syria and is board-certified in anatomic and clinical pathology with extensive experience in hematopathology. He has completed fellowships in hematopathology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and in molecular biology and human genetics at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated is the nation's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, providing insights that enable physicians, hospitals, managed care organizations and other healthcare professionals to make decisions to improve health. The company offers the broadest access to diagnostic laboratory services through its national network of laboratories and patient service centers. Quest Diagnostics is the leading provider of esoteric testing, including gene-based medical testing, and empowers healthcare organizations and clinicians with state-of-the-art connectivity solutions that improve practice management. Additional company information can be found on the Internet at: http://www.questdiagnostics.com.

The statements in this press release which are not historical facts or information may be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to be materially different. Certain of these risks and uncertainties may include, but are not limited to, unanticipated expenditures, changing relationships with customers, suppliers and strategic partners, conditions of the economy and other factors described in the Quest Diagnostics Incorporated 2002 Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

SOURCE Quest Diagnostics Incorporated
-0- 09/30/2003
/CONTACT: Media - Jennifer Somers, +1-201-393-5700, or Investors - Laure
Park, +1-201-393-5030, both of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated/
/Web site: http://www.questdiagnostics.com /
(DGX)

CO: Quest Diagnostics Incorporated
ST: New Jersey
IN: HEA MTC
SU: PER