Franklin Lakes, NJ (August 01, 2002) -- Introducing the BD Vacutainer® Plus Plastic Citrate Tube

BD is proud to announce the release of the new BD Vacutainer® Plus Plastic Citrate Tube, a clinically proven solution for all coagulation testing, providing both patient and healthcare worker safety. This product offers a total clinical solution for all routine coagulation testing, incorporating the latest technology in plastic blood collection tubes.

As the inventor of evacuated blood collection tubes with decades of medical device manufacturing and clinical expertise, BD fully understands the criticality of coagulation testing. Extensive clinical studies were performed with both normal and abnormal patients on numerous coagulation analyzers to ensure that the new plastic citrate tube demonstrates clinical equivalence to the recognized global "gold standard", the 4.5mL BD Vacutainer® glass citrate tube.

The outer portion of the tube is made of PET, the same high quality shatter resistant plastic material as the other BD plastic blood collection tubes. The inner surface of the tube is polypropylene, a non-activating surface that has been clinically proven to provide accurate and precise results to ensure patient safety. The unique design of this product allows for a 2.7mL and a 1.8mL draw volume to be incorporated into a full draw 13x75mm, automation friendly tube size. As a result, there are no "headspace" associated platelet activation issues with this product, unlike other "partial draw" tubes.

With the advent of the Federal Safety Law, many customers require support with their conversion from glass to plastic tubes. BD provides a complete support system to ease this transition. We are fully staffed with knowledgeable Sales Representatives, clinical support documentation, sales literature and educational materials. Trained medical technologists in our Technical Services Department can answer questions related to all BD Vacutainer® Brand products. In addition, our customer service representatives are available to assist with product information.