The case was dismissed as to all plaintiffs and was appealed to the United States Courts of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of the defendants in November of 2002 and the dismissal by the trial court was affirmed. This ruling is not being appealed and effectively ends the case with no recovery for any plaintiffs.

As previously reported by the Company’s FORM 10-K For The Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2000, in April 2000, the court consolidated the various actions under the caption In re VISX, Inc. Securities Litigation C-00-0649-CRB, and appointed a lead plaintiff. The lead plaintiff thereafter filed his consolidated amended complaint, and the parties stipulated to the certification of a plaintiff class. On September 20, 2000, defendants filed a motion to dismiss the consolidated amended complaint, and on February 27, 2001, the District Court granted defendants' motion and dismissed the consolidated amended complaint with prejudice. Plaintiffs have appealed this decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The original Complaint alleges that, during the Class Period, VISX and the six officer defendants (collectively, the ``Defendants'') violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by, among other things, issuing materially false and misleading statements to the investing public about the Company's business, revenue growth and earnings expectations for fiscal 2000 relating to its Excimer Laser Systems. The Complaint further alleges that the price of VISX's shares was artificially inflated as a result of Defendants' omissions of material fact.