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Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP Files Class Action Suit Against Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation

Friday, October 10, 2008

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SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP (“Coughlin Stoia”) (http://www.csgrr.com/cases/medicis/) today announced that a class action has been commenced on behalf of an institutional investor in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona on behalf of purchasers of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation (“Medicis”) (NYSE:MRX) securities during the period between October 30, 2003 and September 23, 2008 (the “Class Period”).

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from October 3, 2008. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff’s counsel, Darren Robbins of Coughlin Stoia at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at djr@csgrr.com. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.csgrr.com/cases/medicis/. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.

The complaint charges Medicis and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Medicis, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty pharmaceutical company in the United States and Canada.

The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants made false and misleading statements about the Company’s financial performance. Specifically, defendants overstated the Company’s revenues and earnings by failing to account for returns in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.

On September 24, 2008, before the market opened, the Company issued a press release announcing that its Audit Committee had concluded that the Company’s financial statements for the annual, transition and quarterly periods in fiscal years 2003 through 2007 and the first and second quarters of 2008, will likely need to be restated and should no longer be relied upon. According to the Company, the restatement was related to a modification in the Company’s technical interpretation of the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles relating to sales return reserve calculations. The Company’s prior accounting method, with respect to sales return reserves, accrued returns at replacement cost rather than deferring the gross sales price, based on the Company’s view of the economic impact of returns on its business. As a result of this disclosure, Medicis’s stock price dropped from $17.92 on September 23, 2008 to $15.58 the next day.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of Medicis securities during the Class Period (the “Class”). The plaintiff is represented by Coughlin Stoia, which has expertise in prosecuting investor class actions and extensive experience in actions involving financial fraud.

Coughlin Stoia, a 190-lawyer firm with offices in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Boca Raton, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Atlanta, is active in major litigations pending in federal and state courts throughout the United States and has taken a leading role in many important actions on behalf of defrauded investors, consumers, and companies, as well as victims of human rights violations. The Coughlin Stoia Web site (http://www.csgrr.com) has more information about the firm.

Source: BUSINESS WIRE