5.09.2008 - 12:52pm ET

(CSRwire) WOONSOCKET, R.I., May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- In recognition of their outstanding contributions in the field of women's health, CVS Caremark has named Dr. Marianne Legato and Dr. Roseanna Means as recipients of the 2008 CVS Caremark Heroes in Women's Health Award. The honorees were recognized last evening at an event in New York City. The awards were presented by Larry Merlo, president of CVS/pharmacy, in celebration of National Women's Health Week.

The CVS Caremark Heroes in Women's Health Award honors leaders in the field of women's health who embody the CVS Caremark mission to improve the lives of others by bringing the best quality care to those who need it. "Dr. Legato and Dr. Means are true champions of women's health," said Merlo. "We are proud to honor these leaders as the first recipients of the CVS Caremark Heroes in Women's Health Award."

Dr. Legato is an internationally known academic physician, author, lecturer, and specialist in women's health. She is the founder and director of The Foundation for Gender-Specific Medicine, Inc. Dr. Legato is responsible for the first collaboration between academic medicine and the private sector focused solely on gender-specific medicine: the science of how normal human biology differs between men and women and how the diagnosis and treatment of disease differs as a function of gender.

"I am grateful to CVS Caremark for their recognition and support," said Legato. "Our deepening understanding of the biology and the differences between men and women is going to make our treatment and prevention of disease much more effective."

A practicing physician, Dr. Means founded Women of Means in 1999 to improve the lives of women who are homeless or marginally housed through quality health care, education and advocacy. Women of Means is a physician-led non-profit that sends volunteer physicians and paid nurses into Boston area shelters to provide free urgent and immediate medical care to homeless women and children. In 2007, teams of medical professionals provided 10,000 patient visits at ten sites doing everything from treating colds and taking care of frostbitten toes and fingers, to identifying chronic illnesses. To support its patients, Women of Means works to connect them to traditional medical resources for ongoing health care.

In addition, Dr. Means is Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and has received many awards honoring her for her work on behalf of homeless women and children including being the first woman invited to speak as Massachusetts Medical Society Annual Orator in 2002, and receiving the 2003 Harvard Medical School/Harvard School of Dental Medicine Dean's Community Service Award and 2004 Tufts University Distinguished Service Award. In May 2008, Boston's Babson College is presenting Dr. Means with an honorary degree in humane letters.

"This award from CVS Caremark helps raise awareness and supports the need for accessible, quality health care for all women and their families," said Means. "We will continue our mission to provide society's neediest women and children with free, immediate and compassionate health care, onsite in the shelters where they are seeking emergency help, so they won't have to sacrifice scarce cash, safety, warmth and food to get basic medical help."

About CVS Caremark

CVS Caremark is the largest provider of prescriptions in the nation. The Company fills or manages more than 1 billion prescriptions annually. Through its unmatched breadth of service offerings, CVS Caremark is transforming the delivery of health care services in the U.S. The Company is uniquely positioned to effectively manage costs and improve health care outcomes through its 6,300 CVS/pharmacy stores; its pharmacy benefit management, mail order and specialty pharmacy division, Caremark Pharmacy Services; its retail-based health clinic subsidiary, MinuteClinic; and its online pharmacy, CVS.com. General information about CVS Caremark is available through the Investor Relations portion of the Company's website, at http://investor.cvs.com, as well as through the pressroom portion of the Company's website, at http://www.cvs.com/pressroom.

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