RNS Number:2151J
Pall Corporation
26 March 2003



          Major Blood Centers Select Pall Bacteria Detection System "BDS" 
                    To Curb Blood Transfusion Fatalities


East Hills, NY (03/24/2003) - - Two of the nation's major blood centers, Blood
Centers of the Pacific and Indiana Blood Center adopt the Pall BDS to detect
bacterial contamination of platelets, the leading infectious cause of
transfusion-related fatalities. The Pall BDS, developed by Pall Corporation
(NYSE: PLL) tests for the presence of bacteria. It is the only system with FDA
clearance to detect bacteria in all platelets, whether derived from single donor
(apheresis) or whole blood collection procedures.

Blood Centers of the Pacific (a subsidiary of Blood Systems Inc., the second
largest blood collection organization in the U.S.) is a nonprofit community
based organization that provides blood components to hospitals, physicians and
patients throughout Northern California.

Indiana Blood Center is one of the nation's largest independent blood banking
institutions providing blood products to more than forty-six member hospitals
throughout Central and Southern Indiana. It also provides centralized testing
services to many centers in the eastern half of the U.S.

"These centers deserve praise for adopting the latest technology to reduce the
serious risk of septic complications and fatalities posed by contaminated
platelets," said Roberto Perez, President of Pall Medical. "Their use of this
technology demonstrates their commitment and leadership to improve the safety of
the nation's blood supply." 

The issue of bacterial contamination of blood is in the spotlight as a 
transfusion safety priority since technology is now available that can address 
the problem. On February 6, 2003, the Blood Safety and Availability Committee of
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a recommendation 
for "expedited implementation of available measures to reduce the risk of 
bacterial contamination in platelets."  This was echoed by both the College of
American Pathologists and the American Association of Blood Banks (the
professional association of the blood banking and transfusion medicine
community), which also announced new standards to implement no later than March
1, 2004 methods to test for the presence of bacteria in all platelet components.
It is anticipated that the HHS recommendation and the new standards will
accelerate adoption of the Pall BDS by blood centers nationwide.

"The Pall BDS gives us a unique and cost-effective way to address the long-
standing problem of bacterial contamination of platelets. With this new system,
we will be able to test apheresis platelet samples and detect bacterial
contamination right in our blood center, thus ensuring a safer product for
patients," said Dan Waxman, M.D., Executive Vice President and Chief Medical
Director of Indiana Blood Center.

"Since our center operates in a decentralized manner with multiple processing
and distribution sites, the Pall BDS, enables us to test platelets for bacterial
contamination in our operating environment. We'll have the results before the
platelets are shipped, thus improving the safety of transfusions," said Nora
Hirschler, M.D., President and CEO of Blood Centers of the Pacific.

Platelets, a blood component required for clotting are most often given to
immunocompromised patients as a life-saving treatment for cancer, leukemia and
other blood disorders. Approximately 2.1 million platelets are transfused each
year in the U.S. Platelets are the blood component most vulnerable to bacterial
contamination because they must be stored at room temperature, which facilitates
bacterial growth. It is estimated that the bacterial contamination rate is
anywhere from one in 2,000 to one in 3,000, and the prevalence of severe
episodes of transfusion-associated sepsis is probably on the order of 1:50,000
platelet transfusions.

Studies have shown that the Pall BDS detects the strains of bacteria reported to
cause more than 98 percent of the fatalities resulting from the transfusion of
contaminated platelets. The Pall BDS accurately detects both gram-positive and
gram-negative bacteria. The system can be easily incorporated into the blood
banking process with minimal cost, time and technician training.

About Pall Corporation

Pall Corporation is the global leader in the rapidly growing field of
filtration, separations and purification.  Pall's business is organized around 
two broad markets: Life Sciences and Industrial. The Company provides 
leading-edge products to meet the demanding needs of customers in biotechnology,
pharmaceuticals, transfusion medicine, semiconductors, municipal drinking water
and aerospace.  Pall Medical, part of the Company's Life Sciences segment, is 
the worldwide leader in leukocyte reduction filtration technologies for both red
blood cells and platelets. The Company is involved in extensive research and
development in many areas of blood safety.  Total revenues for fiscal 2002 were
about $1.3 billion.  The Company is headquartered in East Hills, New York, and
has operations in more than 30 countries.  Further information can be found on
its Web site http://www.pall.com.


For More Information:

Patrice Radowitz, Media Inquiries  
(516) 801-9104 or email: Patrice_Radowitz@pall.com

Diane Foster, Investor Relations Inquiries  
(516) 801-9848 or email: Diane_Foster@pall.com



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange


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