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                                                                    EXHIBIT 5.1


AccuMed International Inc.
920 N. Franklin Street, Suite 402
Chicago, Illinois 60610


December 8, 1999


The Board of Directors
AccuMed International, Inc.
920 N. Franklin Street, Suite 402
Chicago, Illinois 60610


Gentlemen:

         You have requested my opinion as counsel for AccuMed International,
Inc., a Delaware corporation (the "Company"), in connection with the
registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities
Act"), and the Rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, of an aggregate of
250,000 shares (the "Shares") of the Company's common stock, par value $0.01 per
share (the "Common Stock"), all of which Shares underlie a Floating Rate
Convertible Promissory Note (the "Convertible Note"), pursuant to a Registration
Statement on Form S-3 (the "Registration Statement").

         For purposes of this opinion, I have examined the Registration
Statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 9, 1999
and Pre-effective Amendment No. 1 thereto filed on or about the date hereof,
including the prospectus which is a part thereof (the "Prospectus") and the
exhibits thereto. I have also been furnished with and have examined originals or
copies, certified or otherwise identified to my satisfaction, of all such
records of the Company, agreements and other instruments, certificates of
officers and representatives of the Company, certificates of public officials
and other documents as I have deemed it necessary to require as a basis for the
opinions hereafter expressed. As to questions of fact material to such opinions,
I have, where relevant facts were not independently established, relied upon
certifications by principal officers of the Company. I have made such further
legal and actual examination and investigation as I deem necessary for purposes
of rendering the following opinions.

         In my examination I have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the
legal capacity of natural persons, the correctness of facts set forth in
certificates, the authenticity of all documents submitted to me as originals,
the conformity to original documents of all documents submitted to me as
certified or photostatic copies, and the authenticity of the originals of




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such copies. I have also assumed that such documents have each been duly
authorized, properly executed and delivered by each of the parties thereto other
than the Company.

         I am a member of the bar of the State of California. My opinions below
are limited to the laws of the State of California, the General Corporation Law
of the State of Delaware and the federal securities laws of the United States.

         Based on the foregoing, it is my opinion that all of the Shares, when
issued and delivered upon conversion in accordance with the terms of Convertible
Note, and when sold and delivered in the manner described in the Prospectus,
will be legally and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

         I consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the
Pre-effective Amendment No. 1 and in any future amendments to the Registration
Statement and consent to the use of my name under the caption "Legal Matters" in
the Prospectus.


                                   Sincerely,


                                   /s/ Joyce L. Wallach, Esq.















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