MILWAUKEE, May 14, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The law firm of Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP announced that it has sued Accredo Health, Inc. (``Accredo'' or the ``Company'') (Nasdaq:ACDO) and certain of its officers and directors in the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.
If you bought the securities of Accredo Health between June 16, 2002 and April 7, 2003 and have been damaged thereby, you may, no later than June 9, 2003, request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. If you are a member of this class, you can join this class action online at http://www.ademilaw.com/cases/Accredo.php. A Lead plaintiff is a representative party that acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. You may retain Ademi & O'Reilly, LLP, or other counsel of your choice, to serve as your counsel in this action.
The Complaint alleges that Accredo, David D. Stevens, its Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, and Joel R. Kimbrough, its Chief Financial Officer, violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, by issuing a series of materially false and misleading statements to the market during the Class Period. These alleged misstatements had the effect of artificially inflating the price of Accredo securities.
The Complaint alleges that these statements were materially false and misleading because they failed to disclose and misrepresented the following adverse facts, among others: (a) that Accredo was failing to timely record an impairment in the value of certain receivables that it recently acquired, resulting in the Company reporting artificially inflated financial results throughout the Class Period; (b) that Accredo's published financial statements during the Class Period were not prepared in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and were therefore materially false and misleading; and (c) that the Company would not have been able to meet its stated earnings guidance had it properly reserved for its accounts receivables. Based on the above, the earnings guidance and positive statements concerning Accredo were lacking in a reasonable basis and were therefore materially false and misleading.
On April 8, 2003, before the market opened, Accredo announced that it was reducing its previously issued earnings guidance and that it was examining the adequacy of reserves for accounts receivables it recently acquired. In response to this announcement, the price of Accredo common stock plunged over 43% in one day to close at $14.29, after having closed at $25.40 the previous day. Allegedly, during the Class Period, Accredo insiders sold more than $12 million worth of their Accredo stock while in possession of the facts about the Company.
On May 5, 2003 Accredo announced that it had dismissed Ernst & Young as its independent public accountant, and that it had brought a lawsuit against the firm seeking damages in excess of $53.3 million. A copy of the complaint filed in this action is available from the Court, or can be viewed on our website at: http://www.ademilaw.com/cases/Accredo.pdf.
If you have any questions about how you may be able to recover for your losses, or if you would like to consider serving as one of the lead plaintiffs in this lawsuit, you are encouraged to call or e-mail the Firm or visit the Firm's website at http://www.ademilaw.com.
More information on this and other class actions can be found on the Class Action Newsline at www.primezone.com/ca