Exhibit 99
FROM:                                           FOR:
Padilla Speer Beardsley Inc.                    MEDTOX Scientific, Inc.
224 Franklin Avenue West                        402 West County Road D
Minneapolis, MN  55404                          St. Paul, MN  55112

Matt Sullivan (612) 871-8877                    Richard J. Braun (877) 715-7236

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

  MEDTOX SCIENTIFIC COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF PEDIATRIC LEAD TESTING LABORATORY;
                       ACQUISITION EXPECTED TO ADD $0.25
                                 TO EPS IN 2002

         ST. PAUL, Minn.--October 25, 2001--MEDTOX Scientific, Inc. (AMEX: TOX)
today announced that it has acquired Leadtech Corporation. Leadtech is a private
company, which operates as an independent clinical laboratory devoted primarily
to the examination of blood lead concentrations in pediatric patients. The
company is currently located in North Bergen, N.J., and services a nationwide
clientele of pediatricians, various healthcare organizations and physician
offices. Leadtech provides testing services to approximately 2,000 pediatric
accounts. Acquisition of the Leadtech testing volume is consistent with a
strategic initiative to increase MEDTOX's esoteric and specialty testing
services.
         Recently issued government guidelines have created an environment that
is expanding the pediatric lead screening market. The Center for Disease Control
(CDC) has issued guidelines recommending that state health officials develop
statewide plans for childhood lead screening and target children who are at
specific risk. The CDC maintains that children who receive Medicaid or other
federal health benefits should be screened for blood lead levels. Lead screening
is especially important for children of families who live in older housing with
deteriorating lead-based paint and are therefore, at high risk for lead
poisoning. Medicaid funds medical care for approximately one-third of all
children aged one through five in the U.S., and it reimburses for pediatric lead
screening. Additionally, the dangers of lead poisoning have recently come to the
attention of the U.S. Congress. In 2000, Congress drafted the Children's Health
Act of 2000, which addresses the need for early detection and treatment of
childhood lead poisoning.
         Leadtech will be merged into MEDTOX Laboratory. Operations in New
Jersey will cease within 90 days, and all testing will be performed in the
MEDTOX Laboratory facility in St. Paul, Minn. MEDTOX currently provides lead
testing in its metals laboratory, which also provides an extensive variety of
heavy metal, trace metals and solvent tests for occupational and environmental
exposure. It is expected that the increased volume will add more than 150,000
tests in 2002.
         The acquisition is expected to have a nominal, but positive earnings
effect in the fourth quarter of 2001, and is expected to add a minimum of $0.25
to EPS in 2002. The acquisition price is $6.2 million, consisting of $2.5
million in cash and $2.5 million in stock payable at closing, and $1.2 million
of seller financing payable over 24 months. The purchase price is approximately
4.5 times 2001-projected pro-forma EBITDA.


         "The anticipated increase in earnings that will be achieved by the
acquisition is further enhanced by the fact that we will be absorbing the
increased volume with existing capacity," said Dick Braun, MEDTOX president and
chief executive officer. "We will also gain direct access to 2,000 pediatric
practices, and the ability to cross-sell other MEDTOX services to them. Leadtech
has been growing at 20% per year. We intend to dedicate additional sales and
marketing resources to this market with the expectation of increasing that
growth rate."
         MEDTOX Scientific, Inc., headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., is a
provider of high quality specialized laboratory services and on-site/
point-of-collection (POC) devices. The company also supports customers with
complete logistics, data and program management services. MEDTOX develops and
manufactures diagnostic devices for quick and economical on-site/
point-of-collection (POC) analysis for drugs of abuse, therapeutic drugs and
agricultural toxins and provides employment drug screening and occupational
health testing. MEDTOX is also a leader in providing esoteric toxicology
services to hospitals and laboratories nationwide. MEDTOX's Clinical Trials
Services division specializes in three key areas: central laboratory testing
services for clinical trials, bio-analytical services for new drug development
and diagnostic drug screening programs for use in clinical trials. To be
automatically alerted by e-mail about company information, please go to
http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=tox&script=1900 and
follow the directions on the page. For more information see
http://www.medtox.com.


Note: Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made under
the Private Securities Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ due to a
number of factors including a change in the employment pattern of client
companies, the ability of MEDTOX to acquire new business, and changes in the
competitive environment. Fuller discussions of factors that may cause such
results to differ are identified on page three of the company's 2000 annual
report on Form 10-K and incorporated herein by reference.


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