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Nashville, Tennessee (April 29, 2002) — Renal Care Group, Inc. (NYSE:
RCI) today announced that it had received notice that Amgen Inc has raised
the price of EPOGEN®, which is routinely administered to dialysis
patients to treat anemia, by 3.9% effective at 5:01 p.m. April 25, 2002.
This price increase will not affect Renal Care Group in 2002 because the
Company's current contract extends through the end of 2002.
The Company is currently engaged in negotiations with Amgen concerning
its contract for 2003. Renal Care Group and Amgen have agreed in principle
that the Company's current pricing formula will remain in effect for 2003.
As a result, the Company believes that it will be able to mitigate a substantial
portion of this increase. This agreement in principle is conditioned on
negotiating and signing a final written amendment to the contract between
the Company and Amgen.
Renal Care Group, Inc. is a dialysis services company that provides care
to patients with kidney disease. The Company currently treats approximately
19,200 patients through more than 240 owned outpatient dialysis facilities,
in addition to providing acute dialysis services to more than 120 hospitals.
Over 6,000 associates provide services across the Company's 26-state network.
Certain statements in this press release particularly
those in the second paragraph concerning the Company’s negotiation
of a new contract with Amgen and its ability to mitigate the Amgen price
increase in 2003 constitute "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements reflect management's expectations and are based
upon currently available information. These forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that
may cause actual results, performance or achievements of Renal Care Group
to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking
statements, including risks related to: compliance with health care and
other applicable laws; the integration of acquired companies; changes
in the Medicare and Medicaid programs; risks related to EPO; payment reductions
by private insurers, hospitals or managed care organizations; and changes
in the health care delivery, financing or reimbursement systems. These
and other factors affecting the company are discussed in more detail in
Renal Care Group's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including without limitation Renal Care Group's annual report on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 2001. Copies of these filings are
available from Renal Care Group upon request.
Contact:
R. Dirk Allison
Chief Financial Officer
615-345-5500
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