"General Electric Faces Ruling as Novation Medicare Co-Conspirator"

The General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) is defending its relationship with Novation, Inc. in a cartel to exclude Medical Supply Chain, Inc.

KANSAS CITY, MO August 26, 2004 -- In final briefs submitted to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals last Friday, The General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) is defending its relationship with Novation, Inc. in a cartel to exclude Medical Supply Chain, Inc. from entering the $1.3 Trillion dollar hospital supply industry which is in a desperate need to lower costs. On August 21st, the day following the final brief, the New York Times revealed that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) had issued criminal subpoenas in a broad inquiry into hospital supply purchases. The companies named in the NY Times article to receive a criminal subpoena with GE are Merck (NYSE:MRK), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY), Becton Dickinson (NYSE:BDX), Cardinal Health (NYSE:CAH) and Genentech (NYSE:DNA); the G.E. Healthcare medical equipment unit of General Electric, all of which are members of the cartel Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX) founded by GEs CEO Jeffery Immelt and alleged by Medical Supply Chain, Inc. to have been formed for the purpose of artificially inflating hospital supply costs.

Medical Supply Chain, Inc.s case against Novations investment banking partner, US Bancorp/Piper Jaffray (NYSE:USB)(NYSE:PJC) for participating in the hospital supply cost inflation scheme through antitrust prohibited practices involving Neoforma (NYSE:NEOF), Novations e-commerce subsidiary is also being heard by the same court and Medical Supply Chain, Inc.s president Samuel Lipari expects a decision on his three year battle to reform healthcare purchasing from the Denver court before the antitrust subcommittee of the US Senate meets again to consider new regulations to protect Medicare and Medicaid funded hospital supply purchasing.

About Medical Supply Chain
Medical Supply Chain, Inc. (MSCI) is a Health System service center providing supply chain resources and technology to the health system (hospital) and their trading partners. MSCI supports and complements the work and goals of the supply chain professional in their pursuit to strategically direct supply-chain activities and relationships. When this occurs real supply-chain value will find its way into healthcare and only then will the layers of cost and inefficiencies be removed. MSCI transforms health systems with empowerment to control their own supply chain costs.

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