I-Flow Announces Managed Care Contracts For ON-Q PainBuster

LAKE FOREST, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 2005

Private Insurers Representing More Than Seven Million Covered Lives Start Redefining Recovery for Patients Who Get ON-Q's Non-Narcotic Post-Surgical Pain Relief

I-Flow Corporation (NASDAQ: IFLO) today announced contracts with twelve managed care organizations representing HMOs, PPOs, and Workmen's Compensation providers that will begin to routinely reimburse for ON-Q for post-surgical pain relief. With these contracts, ON-Q will be accessible to more than seven million patients who may undergo surgery in ambulatory surgery centers across the United States.

ON-Q is redefining recovery and helping patients get back to normal after surgery by reducing or eliminating the need for narcotics, today's standard of care for pain relief. ON-Q has outcomes-based labeling to provide significantly better pain relief than narcotics alone and significantly less need for narcotics after surgery. 

In related news, and consistent with the company's managed care objectives, the first Medicare payment was received based on the recently announced coverage for ON-Q. In this case involving a specific patient undergoing hernia surgery, the decision that ON-Q was medically necessary and therefore payable was made by an administrative law judge. I-Flow used ON-Q's enhanced labeling, the over 44 published and presented clinical studies on ON-Q, and the company's existing insurer relationships through its wholly-owned subsidiary InfuSystem to achieve this success in the managed care arena.

"It is clear that I-Flow's eighteen years of experience working with insurance providers and our investment in clinical research supporting the use of ON-Q have made ON-Q a more attractive option for insurers," said Donald M. Earhart, President and CEO of I-Flow Corporation. "With ON-Q, patients are able to return to normal sooner which means dramatically shorter stays in otherwise expensive hospital beds. Patients also feel better after surgery and are happy to spend their time recovering at home. ON-Q is rapidly gaining acceptance in the market and it is encouraging to see private insurance companies recognizing the importance of offering an option that is redefining post-surgical recovery to their members."

About ON-Q PainBuster

ON-Q is now labeled to significantly reduce pain and narcotics intake after surgery. ON-Q PainBuster is a simple yet elegant device that consists of a small balloon pump that holds a local anesthetic (a pain-numbing medicine) and delivers it through a tiny, specially-designed tube (catheter) directly into the surgical site. The proprietary ON-Q Soaker(TM) Catheter is designed to provide more even distribution of local anesthetic over a wider area, as compared to other catheters, because of its patented wicking capabilities.

ON-Q PainBuster delivers narcotic-free pain relief for many surgeries, including: cesarean section, hysterectomy, knee replacement, mastectomy, cardio-vascular/thoracic, foot and ankle and many cosmetic procedures. ON-Q PainBuster helps patients avoid the side effects of narcotics so they can get back to their normal lives faster. Currently, more than 40 studies on the use of ON-Q have been completed and published and more are underway to demonstrate the benefits of ON-Q in additional areas such as pediatrics and wound healing.

For more information about ON-Q, visit www.AskYourSurgeon.com or call 800-448-3569.

About I-Flow Corporation

I-Flow Corporation (www.iflo.com) designs, develops and markets technically advanced, low-cost drug delivery systems and services that are redefining the standard of care by providing life-enhancing, cost-effective solutions for pain relief.

Certain disclosures made by the Company in this press release and in other reports and statements released by the Company are and will be forward-looking in nature, such as comments that express the Company's opinions about trends and factors that may impact future operating results. Disclosures that use words such as the Company "believes," "anticipates," or "expects" or use similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those expected, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to republish revised forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Readers are also urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made by the Company in this release which seek to advise interested parties of the risks and other factors that affect the Company's business, as well as in the Company's periodic reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The risks affecting the Company's business include, among others: implementation of our direct sales strategy; dependence on our suppliers and distributors; reliance on the success of the home health care industry; our continuing compliance with applicable laws and regulations, such as the Food Drug and Cosmetics Act, and the FDA's concurrence with our management's subjective judgment on compliance issues; the reimbursement system currently in place and future changes to that system; competition in the industry; economic and political conditions in foreign countries; currency exchange rates; inadequacy of booked reserves; technological changes and product availability and acceptance. All such forward-looking statements, whether made in this release or elsewhere, should be considered in context with the various disclosures made by the Company about its business.