Friday June 18, 10:13 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Americare Health Scan Files Libel Suit Against TCPI and Individuals Over Anonymous Yahoo! Postings
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 18, 1999--Americare Health Scan, Inc. (OTC BB:AMIT) has filed a multimillion dollar libel suit against Technical Chemicals and Products, Inc. (NASDAQ:TCPI - news), and two individuals as a result of anonymous postings on the Yahoo! Finance bulletin board on the Worldwide Web.
The lawsuit, which seeks $5 million in damages for each of four counts, names TCPI, its chairman and president Jack Aronowitz, and Palm Beach County investor Robert Zelinka as defendants. The action was filed in Circuit Court in Broward County, where TCPI's headquarters are located.
The libel suit comes in response to anonymous postings made by Zelinka beginning in 1998, according to Americare President and CEO Dr. Joseph P. D'Angelo. The messages contained unsubstantiated allegations of personal and professional wrongdoing, as well as personal name-calling and profanity about D'Angelo, Americare and its subsidiaries, he said.
''We are asking the court to make an example of them for anyone else who is thinking of resorting to such tactics in order to manipulate stock prices or affect their competitors,'' D'Angelo said.
''These people believed they could hide behind the anonymity of the Internet to post repugnant and libelous messages that they knew to be false,'' he added. ''Fortunately we were able to unmask them so they can be held accountable.''
Americare's investigation of the anonymous messages began on Feb. 26, 1999, when Americare issued a subpoena to Yahoo! Inc. as part of a federal patent infringement claim that is pending against TCPI. The subpoena forced Yahoo! to reveal the e-mail addresses of anonymous Internet posters using a variety of screen names, many of which were later traced to Zelinka, a TCPI stockholder and personal friend of Aronowitz.
During a deposition in the patent infringement case, Zelinka admitted that in his messages he was merely repeating statements he had heard directly from Aronowitz and TCPI vice president Howard Goldman.
''We were very disappointed to discover that this scheme to defame us reached all the way into the chairman's office at TCPI,'' said D'Angelo. ''It is really a sad example.''
Altogether, the suit alleges, Zelinka posted messages under 18 different screen names, including the name ''Plusticker,'' under which many of the libelous postings were made.
In addition to the pending patent infringement case, Americare had earlier obtained a judgment for $328,350 against TCPI, and for $500,000 against Aronowitz personally, for misappropriating Americare trade secrets. The new action charges TCPI, Aronowitz and Zelinka with libel and invasion of privacy, and also charges TCPI and Aronowitz with slander.
D'Angelo repeated his call for more accountability with regards to anonymous postings on the Internet. ''Every public company is at risk of this sort of unsubstantiated anonymous attack,'' he commented.
Americare Health Scan is a leading developer of non-invasive health screening and medical diagnostic technology. The company has developed technology for detecting peptic ulcers; hepatitis, prostate cancer, pregnancy, HIV, substance abuse, and monitoring of blood sugar levels. For more information contact Dr. Joseph P. D'Angelo at 305-770-1141.
Information in this release, including any information incorporated by reference herein, includes ''forward-looking statements'' within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934, as amended, and is subject to the safe-harbor created by such sections. The company's actual results may differ significantly from the results discussed in such forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned that these statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results might differ materially from those suggested or projected in the forward-looking statements.
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Contact:
Americare Health Scan Inc., Fort Lauderdale
Debra Lapierre, 954/968-0115
E-MAIL: debral@creativeconnection.com
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