Judge Sets Tentative Date for New Trial in Alvarado Case

    Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers/Legal Writers

    DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 2005--Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE:THC) announced today that U.S. District Judge M. James Lorenz in San Diego set a tentative date of March 29 to begin a second trial in the case entitled United States of America v. Barry Weinbaum, Tenet HealthSystem Hospitals Inc., and Alvarado Hospital Medical Center Inc. Last week, a San Diego federal jury in the first trial was unable to reach a verdict, and the judge therefore declared a mistrial. Tenet HealthSystem Hospitals Inc. is a Tenet subsidiary.
    At today's hearing, Lorenz did not issue a ruling on Tenet's motion for acquittal, but he indicated that he would deny the portion of the motion regarding single counts of conspiracy against all the defendants. He reserved his ruling on the other 18 counts.
    "If the prosecutors retry this case, it will be expensive, time-consuming and unfortunate," said E. Peter Urbanowicz, Tenet's general counsel. "We still hope the prosecutors decide that it serves no purpose to retry this case and it is in the best interests of everyone to move forward and address the bigger issues. There is no reason to believe another jury will reach any different result. If necessary, however, we will defend ourselves vigorously against these charges in a second trial because we still believe they are unwarranted."
    Tenet Healthcare Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates acute care hospitals and related health care services. Tenet's hospitals aim to provide the best possible care to every patient who comes through their doors, with a clear focus on quality and service. Tenet can be found on the World Wide Web at www.tenethealth.com.
    Some of the statements in this release may constitute forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on our current expectations and could be affected by numerous factors and are subject to various risks and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2003, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and periodic reports on Form 8-K. Do not rely on any forward-looking statement, as we cannot predict or control many of the factors that ultimately may affect our ability to achieve the results estimated. We make no promise to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of changes in underlying factors, new information, future events or otherwise.

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CONTACT: Tenet Healthcare Corporation Steven Campanini, 469-893-6321 (Media) Thomas Rice, 805-563-7188 (Investors)

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA TEXAS INDUSTRY KEYWORD: LEGAL/LAW GOVERNMENT MEDICAL CLASS ACTION LAWSUITS SOURCE: Tenet Healthcare Corporation

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