EXHIBIT 99.1

Salt Lake City, Utah - Utah Medical Products, Inc. (Nasdaq:UTMD) is a defendant
in a lawsuit filed more than five months ago by the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA or Agency) in the U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, alleging
violations of the Quality System Regulation (QSR). The objective of the QSR is
"to ensure that finished devices will be safe and effective..."

On November 16, 2004, UTMD announced the admissions made under oath by the FDA
designated enforcement official that the FDA is not claiming that UTMD's devices
are unsafe, ineffective, defective or causing any harm to patients. UTMD was
pleased with this FDA confirmation of UTMD's history of quality service to the
health care community, but remains saddened and puzzled by FDA's motivation.

Two more months have passed in the discovery process since that announcement.
UTMD provides this update to shareholders, clinicians, and other interested
constituents with respect to the litigation progress. During this time, as part
of the discovery process, a number of FDA and Center for Devices and
Radiological Health ("CDRH") documents including expert reports have been
obtained, and additional depositions of FDA officials have been taken by UTMD's
lawyers. Also, UTMD's independent experts have filed their reports.

According to an expert report filed on January 10 on behalf of UTMD by a
respected 28-year FDA compliance veteran, and former FDA District Director, "It
is my opinion that UTMD is in substantial compliance with all requirements of
the QSR." This position directly contradicts the FDA's.

Another expert report filed by a 30-year professor in plastics materials
engineering at a major university, who previously taught FDA inspectors,
expressed that, "The FDA fundamentally misconstrues and misunderstands the
nature and principles of plastics parts manufacturing, such as injection molding
and extrusion... Utah Medical's procedures and guidelines related to extrusion
and injection molding operations and process control are superior."

UTMD CEO Kevin Cornwell states,
          "Our belief that some personnel within the FDA have abused their
          authority and the concept of due process is strengthened by disclosure
          of documents that are being discovered only because of the benefit of
          the judicial process. Expert reports filed on behalf of the FDA rely
          on information provided by the FDA rather than the on-site
          manufacturing facility audit that was performed by UTMD's independent
          experts. Regrettably, FDA documents contain a very subjective and
          negative characterization of UTMD, its employees and representatives.

          The CDRH official considered the Agency's `expert' decision-maker
          regarding the QSR, in an internal e-mail to other reviewers within the
          Agency prior to the completion of a 2003 inspection directed, `This





          [FDA Form] 483 is going to have to be dead on, for me to support an
          observation with all the issues surrounding the inspections. I will
          not be able to massage it for the complaint [for injunction] like some
          cases...' `Massage'? So much for honesty, due process and simple fair
          play. We were told by the FDA District Director that this was a
          routine inspection, and were never advised that the purpose of the
          inspection was to prepare an injunction lawsuit. So much for the
          independent and objective review of supposedly factual observations by
          inspectors.

          The only explanation for this that I can offer is that UTMD's
          well-educated and experienced technical people apparently offended
          enforcement personnel expressing views about, or questioning, our
          special products and processes that differed from those opinions of
          the FDA personnel. Publicly, the FDA invites questions and
          disagreement. Yet, in our experience, when one disagrees, the
          observation massage machinery is set in motion, and dialogue with, and
          feedback from, FDA personnel is cut off.

          There have been a few documentation errors identified in thousands of
          pages of UTMD documents, spanning a decade or more, that FDA
          inspectors reviewed during hundreds of hours of multiple inspections
          since 2001, and some isolated examples where a UTMD employee failed to
          follow a written procedure. But significantly, there is nothing of
          consequence that has affected the safety or effectiveness of UTMD's
          devices.

          The FDA, as a scientific law enforcement agency, must take actions
          based on fact, not emotion. The facts do not support the FDA's
          characterization of UTMD in its lawsuit. UTMD has dedicated,
          well-trained personnel who understand the importance of accuracy and
          following procedures. Yet, in the course of manufacturing millions of
          specially hand-assembled devices, mistakes happen. The identification
          of these and subsequent training and other corrective actions are
          evidence that UTMD's Quality System works, and provides valuable
          continuous movement toward perfection."

UTMD respects and recognizes the important responsibility of the FDA, but it
also believes in the right it has to ask questions and understand the basis for
any FDA concerns. This is what UTMD has heard from FDA representatives in the
public forum, and we believe the effort to encourage dialogue is helpful.

         `When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.'
       .... President George W. Bush, Inauguration Address, January 2005





UTMD asks its elected representatives to support the President's statement,
starting here at home. UTMD has accepted this challenge because we believe, at a
personal level, that honesty and truth should prevail, particularly when it
regards U.S. government officials who claim to be protecting the public; and at
a practical level, because of our small size, we are not able to simply "appease
them to go away" as some are wont to do. Presently, it appears the only avenue
available for FDA enforcement oversight is through the expensive and
time-consuming judicial process.

Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to protect public shareholders by
addressing ethical break-downs in companies like Enron and WorldCom. Since the
value of UTMD's investors' holdings have been significantly unfairly damaged by
the FDA, we believe that responsible legislators will expect similar mandated
ethical standards for Federal law enforcement officials.

UTMD continues to manufacture and distribute all of its safe and effective
products worldwide without any regulatory restriction, because the FDA
ultimately must prove its allegations. UTMD affirms its belief in previous
statements in press releases about its conscientious compliance with the QSR, as
well as significant deficiencies in the FDA's performance, which appear to be
increasingly supported by the evidence in discovery to date.

Utah Medical Products, Inc., with particular interest in health care for women
and their babies, develops, manufactures, assembles and markets a broad range of
well-established, proven safe and effective, disposable and reusable specialty
medical devices.