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Leading Managed Behavioral Healthcare Expert to Join Hythiam As SVP of Medical Affairs

Posted on: Tuesday, 1 August 2006, 12:01 CDT

Hythiam, Inc. (NASDAQ:HYTM):

-- Company Prepares for Institutional Adoption of PROMETA(TM) Protocols

-- Dr. Lawrence Weinstein, Leading Behavioral Health Executive, to Lead Program Development for Third Party Payors

Hythiam, Inc. (NASDAQ:HYTM), a healthcare services management company licensing the PROMETA(TM) physiological protocols designed to treat alcohol, methamphetamine and cocaine dependence, announced today that Lawrence Weinstein, MD, has joined Hythiam as Senior Vice President of Medical Affairs in order to assist the company in its expansion with public agencies, managed care organizations and other third party payors. Dr. Weinstein has held several executive positions with leading behavioral health organizations, including PacifiCare Behavioral Health/United Behavioral Health and Magellan Behavioral Health.

As Hythiam prepares for anticipated broader institutional utilization of its PROMETA Protocols, Dr. Weinstein will have several responsibilities, including developing substance dependence treatment programs for third party payors; guiding Hythiam's institutional business development and marketing teams; providing support and training to criminal justice, Medicaid, and commercial payors on the use and implementation of the PROMETA protocols; and refining the PROMETA protocols. Clinical studies and commercial pilots for PROMETA will continue to be headed by Dr. Donald Wesson, Senior Vice President of Scientific Affairs, while clinical delivery of the PROMETA protocols will continue to be headed by Dr. David Smith, Senior Vice President and Medical Director.

"Based upon the successful results in recent commercial pilots of the PROMETA protocols, driving strong interest from both public and private third party payors, the timing is ideal for someone with Dr. Weinstein's background and credentials to join our team," said Terren S. Peizer, Hythiam's Chairman and CEO. "I am very pleased that Dr. Weinstein brings to Hythiam extensive expertise in managed behavioral healthcare in the areas of clinical development, clinical management, and regulatory affairs from his prior appointments at leading third party payors. His relationships with the leading managed behavioral health care organizations and understanding of the costs and challenges that they face in providing treatment for alcoholism and substance dependence will provide Hythiam with the insight and advantage in developing tailored disease management solutions."

"The PROMETA protocols represent the ideal solution for managed care," said Dr. Weinstein. "An acute, outpatient delivery of a comprehensive treatment is something that many of us from managed care have been searching for. The potential significant savings from reducing in-patient stays, the increasing evidence from scientific studies, third party validation from commercial pilots, and the urgent unmet medical need which managed care providers have become acutely aware of, are important catalysts to drive adoption by many payors struggling with alcohol and substance dependent patients. I'm excited to join a company on the forefront of developing and implementing an innovative and scientifically based treatment for use on people suffering from the disease of addiction."

Dr. Weinstein is a psychiatrist with over twenty-five years of experience in behavioral health medicine. Prior to joining the Company, Dr. Weinstein served as West Region Medical Director of PacifiCare Behavioral Health/United Behavioral Health. Prior to joining PacifiCare in February 2003, he was Regional Medical Director for Magellan Behavioral Health, where he also served as Medical Director and Vice President of Medical Services from March 1994 to June 2001. At Magellan Behavioral Health, he successfully managed capitated HMOs and medical operations for more than one million national and regional PPOs, HMOs, EAPs, and point-of-service members. From 1991 to 2000, Dr. Weinstein was the Medical Director of the Chemical Dependence Unit at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Chicago. Prior to 1991, he was in private practice providing individual and group diagnostic and psychotherapeutic services as well as family therapy. Dr. Weinstein received his M.D. from the Ross University School of Medicine and began his medical education at the Kiev Medical Institute. Dr. Weinstein completed his internship and residency in psychiatry at Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center in Chicago.

About PROMETA(TM)

Hythiam's PROMETA(TM) treatment protocols are designed for use by healthcare providers seeking to treat individuals diagnosed with dependencies to alcohol, cocaine or methamphetamine, as well as combinations of these drugs. The PROMETA treatment protocols comprise nutritional supplements, FDA-approved oral and IV medications used off-label and separately administered in a unique dosing algorithm, as well as psychosocial or other recovery-oriented therapy chosen by the patient and his or her treatment provider. As a result, PROMETA represents an innovative approach to managing alcohol, cocaine, or methamphetamine dependence that is designed to address physiological, nutritional, and psychosocial aspects of the disease, and is thereby intended to offer patients an opportunity to achieve sustained recovery. For further information, please click on www.prometainfo.com.

About Hythiam, Inc.

Hythiam(R) is a healthcare services management company focused on delivering solutions for those suffering from alcoholism and other substance dependencies. Hythiam researches, develops, licenses and commercializes innovative physiological, nutritional, and behavioral treatment protocols that seek to address substance dependence. Additionally, Hythiam provides proprietary administrative services to assist physicians and facilities with staff education, marketing and outreach support, and outcomes tracking for data analysis. For further information, please click on www.hythiam.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for statements of historical fact, the matters discussed in this press release are forward looking and made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect numerous assumptions and involve a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's control that may cause actual results to differ materially from stated expectations. These risk factors include, among others, limited operating history and lack of statistically significant formal research studies, the risk that treatment protocols might not be effective, difficulty in developing, exploiting and protecting proprietary technologies, intense competition and substantial regulation in the healthcare industry; and additional risks factors as discussed in the reports filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available on its website at http://www.sec.gov.

Source: Business Wire

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