Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) announced today that it has been named 2009 Medical Products Industry Leader of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) and the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (DJSI North America). This marks the 11th consecutive year that the company has been listed in the DJSI and the eighth year the company has been named Medical Products Industry Leader since the launch of the DJSI in 1999.

Baxter's leadership position resulted from top scores across a number of performance areas including bioethics, code of conduct, environmental policy/management, and social and environmental reporting.

"Our focus on sustainability reflects our values, enhances our business and is part of our responsibility as a global leader," said Robert L. Parkinson, Jr., Baxter's chairman and chief executive officer. "This recognition once again validates Baxter's sustainability efforts."

The Dow Jones Sustainability indices, derived from the Dow Jones Global Index, are the world's first benchmarks tracking the financial performance of leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide. The DJSI World Index tracks the financial performance of the top 10 percent in each of 57 sectors out of the 2,500 largest companies in the Dow Jones Global Index in terms of social, economic and environmental performance. The DJSI North America Index includes the top 20 percent of the 600 largest North American companies in the Dow Jones Global Index.

In addition to Baxter's inclusion in the DJSI, the company has been recognized by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors as one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World and by Corporate Responsibility Officer magazine as one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens in the United States. Baxter is a member of the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, the Business Environmental Leadership Council of the Pew Center on Global Climate Exchange, the Chicago Climate Exchange, the U.S. EPA's Climate Leaders, and the Ethics & Compliance Officer Association. Baxter endorses the Ceres principles and is an organizational stakeholder of the Global Reporting Initiative.

Baxter International Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures and markets products that save and sustain the lives of people with hemophilia, immune disorders, infectious diseases, kidney disease, trauma, and other chronic and acute medical conditions. As a global, diversified healthcare company, Baxter applies a unique combination of expertise in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to create products that advance patient care worldwide.

Baxter International Inc.

Baxter International Inc.

At Baxter, sustainability means creating lasting social, environmental and economic value by addressing the needs of the company’s wide-ranging stakeholder base. The company's sustainability efforts support Baxter's mission to apply innovative science in the development of products and therapies that save and sustain patients' lives.

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