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Sound Health Solutions to Present Results of Comprehensive Obesity Treatment Program at North American Association for the Study of Obesity Annual Meeting

Posted on: Thursday, 20 October 2005, 09:00 CDT

CARLSBAD, Calif., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- iVOW, Inc. , today announced that Steve Morton, Ph.D., head of Behavioral Health from Sound Health Solutions (SHS), will make a poster presentation this week at the annual meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO). iVOW recently announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire SHS. SHS's presentation will feature the results of a comprehensive obesity treatment program that SHS developed for a large self-insured corporation based in Washington State.

NAASO is the leading scientific society dedicated to the study of obesity. Since 1982, NAASO has been committed to encouraging research on the causes and treatment of obesity, and to keeping the medical community and public informed of new advances. As the largest conference in North America focusing on obesity research and treatment, the NAASO annual meeting presents cutting-edge basic, clinical, and epidemiological research. In addition to oral and poster presentations, attendees hear from world-renowned leaders in the field of obesity.

Following are the highlights of the SHS presentation: * From 1999-2002, 67 employees/spouses participated in an employer sponsored SHS weight management pilot program study. * All participants had a Body Mass Index (BMI) of > 30 or a BMI of > 27 with two or more risk factors including coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, sleep apnea, asthma, congestive heart failure, and depression. * The 12-month weight management program consisted of one-to-one physician supervised nutrition education, exercise, and behavior change counseling. * Participants in the program showed an average reduction in body weight of more than 5%, as well as lower blood pressure, less depression, and improved self-esteem as measured by psychometric testing. * Return on investment (ROI) for the corporation was 197% in year 3 of the program and projected to be more than 300% in year 5. ROI was calculated by reduction in claims for prescription drugs, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations (calculated by the company's third-party administrator).

"Rising health care costs are a concern for all corporations, and obesity is a contributor to rising costs and chronic disease states," said Dr. Frances Gough a co-founder of SHS and lead author of the study.

Dr. Teresa Girolami, the other co-founder of SHS, further elaborated, "Our approach to obesity demonstrates the positive impact of conservative intervention on employee health and the compelling ROI that can be generated for corporations. The NAASO annual meeting is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness for the effectiveness of our treatment approach, and we believe it can attract additional corporate clients to explore our program."

Both Drs. Gough and Girolami have signed multiyear agreements with iVOW and will be integrally involved with both SHS and iVOW. iVOW expects the acquisition of SHS to close during the fourth quarter of 2005.

iVOW

Our business is focused exclusively on the disease state management of chronic and morbid obesity. We provide program management, operational consulting and clinical training services to physicians and hospitals involved in the medical and surgical treatment of morbidly obese patients. We also provide specialized vitamins to patients who have undergone obesity surgery. Our corporate website is http://www.ivow.com/; information on our nutritional supplements for post-surgical gastric bypass patients may be found on http://www.vistavitamins.com/. iVOW is the new corporate name of Vista Medical Technologies, Inc. iVOW is traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the stock symbol IVOWD.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements concerning the business and products of iVOW. Actual results may differ materially depending on a number of risk factors, including, but not limited to the following: the successful closing of the acquisition of Sound Health Solutions; the successful integration of the SHS business; our ability to penetrate the market for obesity surgery management services; customer acceptance of our products and services; decisions by Medicare and carriers to provide coverage for bariatric surgical procedures; uncertainties related to our healthcare services business model; and our efforts to maintain compliance with the continued listing requirements of the Nasdaq Capital Market. Other risks inherent in our business are described in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004, as amended, and our most recent quarterly report on form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AT iVOW: AT FINANCIAL RELATIONS BOARD: Michael H. Owens, MD, MPH, FACPE, CPE Tony Rossi President & CEO Media Contact mowens@ivow.com trossi@financialrelationsboard.com (760) 603-9120 (310) 854-8317

iVOW, Inc.

CONTACT: Michael H. Owens, President & CEO of iVOW, Inc.,+1-760-603-9120, mowens@ivow.com; or Media, Tony Rossi of Financial RelationsBoard, +1-310-854-8317, trossi@financialrelationsboard.com, for iVOW, Inc.

Web site: http://www.ivow.com/

Web site: http://www.vistavitamins.com/

Source: PRNewswire-FirstCall

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