Exhibit 99.5
SALOMON SMITH BARNEY
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           A member of citigroup[logo]
                                                            


The Board of Directors
Lab Holdings, Inc.
5000 West 95th Street
Shawnee Mission, Kansas  66207

Members of the Board:

We hereby consent to the inclusion of our opinion letter, dated March 7, 1999 as
Appendix B to, and to the  reference  thereto  under the caption  "THE  PROPOSED
MERGER  --  Opinion  of  Holdings'   Financial  Advisor"  in,  the  Joint  Proxy
Statement/Prospectus  of  Lab  Holdings,  Inc.  ("Holdings")  and  LabOne,  Inc.
("LabOne")  relating to the proposed merger  transaction  involving Holdings and
LabOne,  which  Joint  Proxy  Statement/Prospectus  is part of the  Registration
Statement  on Form S-4 of  Holdings.  By giving  such  consent we do not thereby
admit  that we are  experts  with  respect  to any  part  of  such  Registration
Statement  within the  meaning of the term  "expert" as used in, or that we come
within the category of persons whose consent is required  under,  the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended,  or the rules and  regulations  of the  Securities  and
Exchange Commission promulgated thereunder.

                                                S/Salomon Smith Barney Inc.

                                            By  _______________________________
                                                SALOMON SMITH BARNEY INC.





New York, New York
April 12, 1999

















SALOMON SMITH BARNEY INC.  Seven World Trade Center, New York, NY 10048
212-783-7000