(November 22, 2004) -- Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) today welcomed an announcement by the French government that it has added new categories of "high-risk" patients to the reimbursement approval criteria for the TAXUS™ Express²™ paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system. Under the French reimbursement system, patients are defined as high-risk if they have an increased chance of experiencing restenosis, or re-blocking of the artery after angioplasty and stenting. The announcement was published on November 17 in the Official Journal of the French Government, "Journal Officiel de la République Française," and will take effect in private hospitals and clinics in France 13 days following publication.

Reimbursement was originally approved in France only for diabetic patients and for patients whose lesions were located in "small vessels" (those with a vessel diameter of less than three mm). The new high-risk categories provide reimbursement for long lesions (greater than 15 mm in length) and lesions located in the proximal left anterior descending artery. Reimbursement was also approved for TAXUS Express² stents with a diameter of 4mm.

"We are very pleased that the French government has expanded the reimbursement criteria for TAXUS," said Michel Darnaud, President of Boston Scientific Europe. "This decision will allow more patients to be treated at the private hospital level and demonstrates confidence in the long-term efficacy of the TAXUS stent when used in complex lesions and diabetic patients."

At the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference in Washington, D.C., in September, Boston Scientific released long-term follow-up data from its TAXUS II and TAXUS IV paclitaxel-eluting stent system clinical trials, indicating that the safety and efficacy benefits associated with the paclitaxel-eluting coronary stent system in complex lesions were maintained at two years. In May, at the Paris Course on Revascularization, the Company announced nine-month results from its European-based TAXUS VI clinical trial, supporting safety and efficacy of the moderate-release formulation paclitaxel-eluting stent in high-risk patients.

Boston Scientific is a worldwide developer, manufacturer and marketer of medical devices whose products are used in a broad range of interventional medical specialties. For more information, please visit www.bostonscientific.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. The Company wishes to caution the reader of this press release that actual results may differ from those discussed in the forward-looking statements and may be adversely affected by, among other things, risks associated with the commercialization of new technologies, competitive offerings, intellectual property and other factors described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.