or regulatory action affecting, among other things, pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement, including under Medicaid and Medicare, the importation of prescription drugs that are marketed outside the U.S. and sold at prices that are regulated by governments of various foreign countries, and the involuntary approval of prescription medicines for over-the-counter use;

• the potential impact of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003;

• legislation or regulations in markets outside the U.S. affecting product pricing, reimbursement or access;

• contingencies related to actual or alleged environmental contamination;

• claims and concerns that may arise regarding the safety or efficacy of in-line products and product candidates;

• legal defense costs, insurance expenses, settlement costs and the risk of an adverse decision or settlement related to product liability, patent protection, governmental investigations, ongoing efforts to explore various means for resolving asbestos litigation and other legal proceedings;

• the Company’s ability to protect its patents and other intellectual property both domestically and internationally;

• interest rate and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations;

• governmental laws and regulations affecting domestic and foreign operations, including tax obligations;

• changes in U.S. generally accepted accounting principles;

• any changes in business, political and economic conditions due to the threat of future terrorist activity in the U.S. and other parts of the world, and related U.S. military action overseas;

• growth in costs and expenses;

• changes in our product, segment and geographic mix; and

• the impact of acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings, product withdrawals and other unusual items, including the impact of the possible sale or spin-off of our Consumer Healthcare business and our ability to realize the projected benefits of our Adapting to Scale multi-year productivity initiative.

We cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will be realized, although we believe we have been prudent in our plans and assumptions. Achievement of future results is subject to risks, uncertainties and inaccurate assumptions. Should known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could vary materially from past results and those anticipated, estimated or projected. Investors should bear this in mind as they consider forward- looking statements.

We undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our Forms 10-Q, 8-K and 10-K reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions are discussed here and under the heading entitled “Risk Factors and Cautionary Factors That May Affect Future Results” in Item 1 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005, which will be filed in March 2006. We note these factors for investors as permitted by the