Abbott Honored as a Great Place to Work Across Europe

Great Place to Work Institute(R) Europe Names Abbott One of the Best Workplaces in Europe; In 2010, Abbott Receives Workplace Honors in 16 Countries

MADRID, May 20, 2010 - The Great Place to Work(R) Institute today named Abbott (NYSE: ABT) one
of the Best Workplaces in Europe at its European Conference in Madrid. The
company was specifically honored for workplace leadership in Denmark, Ireland
and Norway.

"Being named one of the Best Workplaces in Europe is a tremendous honor
for Abbott, especially given the award is based primarily on employee
feedback. It's clear that Abbott employees are passionate about the work they
do to improve the health of people in Europe and around the world," said
Eckhard Hofsaess, senior HR director, Europe, Abbott. "We focus on connecting
people with their potential through training, mentoring and leadership
development programs, and by providing employees with the flexibility and
support they need to build extraordinary careers."

So far in 2010 Abbott has been honored as a top employer in 16 countries
across Europe: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Greece,
Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
and the United Kingdom. Creating a leading workplace for more than 20,000
Abbott employees in Europe is a priority for advancing Abbott's ability to
bring forward innovative new devices, diagnostics, nutritional products and
pharmaceuticals. Beyond Europe, Abbott also is recognized as a top employer
in countries around the world, including Brazil, Canada, South Korea and the
U.S.

"These honors in Europe highlight Abbott's efforts to provide a
consistent global approach to people management across all its businesses,
while also providing flexibility for targeted initiatives that meet the local
needs of employees and Abbott's growing businesses in Europe and around the
world," said Hofsaess.

About the Best Workplaces in Europe

The Great Place to Work(R) Institute Europe selects the Best Workplaces
in Europe from more than 1,300 companies that participate in local-country
Best Workplaces surveys across Europe. The local country surveys have the
same basic methodology that combine the results from the employee survey
Trust Index(c) and the management survey Culture Audit(c). The opinion of
employees is the most important element of the evaluation.

Abbott Widely Recognized as a Premier Global Employer

Abbott's global approach is to be a premier employer in every country
where we operate, helping us to realize the full potential of our employees
to discover new ways to improve the health of people around the world.
Including Best Workplace honors across Europe, Abbott has been recognized as
an outstanding employer in more than 20 countries around the world. In
addition, FORTUNE magazine recently named Abbott the No. 1 Most Admired
Company in its industry sector in 2010, in part for the company's strong
performance in people management.

About Abbott

Abbott is a global, broad-based health care company devoted to the
discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals and
medical products, including nutritionals, devices and diagnostics. The
company employs approximately 83,000 people and markets its products in more
than 130 countries.

Abbott's news releases and other information are available on the
company's Web site at www.abbott.com.

Matt Bedella, +1-847-936-3394, or Fiona Olivier, +33-1-4560-6977, both of Abbott