dj Orthopedics Strengthens Management Team; Four Industry Veterans Appointed to Key Positions in Legal, Marketing, OfficeCare and Information Technology

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 2002--dj Orthopedics Inc. (NYSE:DJO), a designer, manufacturer and marketer of products and services for the orthopedic sports medicine market, today announced four key appointments to its management team.

"As announced in earlier communications, we have targeted several important areas of the Company for performance improvement. Recruiting the necessary talent to support our growth and profitability objectives in 2003 is an important component of this program, and I am delighted to welcome these individuals to the Company," said Les Cross, president and CEO.

-- Don Roberts -- Vice President and General Counsel -- Mr.Roberts brings 29 years of experience in corporate law including securities law, business acquisitions, financing, real estate, intellectual property, licensing, contracts, insurance and employee administration.

-- Laura DiPietro -- Vice President, Marketing -- Ms. DiPietro has 23 years of international marketing experience, including strategic planning, product development, marketing communication, advertising and global market development, primarily in the field of medical device manufacturing.

-- Richard Middelberg -- Vice President, OfficeCare® -- Mr. Middelberg brings 15 years of experience in domestic and international accounting/finance, strategic management consulting and healthcare management and electronic processing systems, including billing and collections in a medical reimbursement environment.

-- Edward Hoffman -- Vice President, IT and Chief Information Officer -- Mr. Hoffman brings more than 30 years of technology
management within multi-industry, multi-national businesses, including e-commerce strategies, business intelligence solutions, corporate IT implementation, IT standards and evaluation programs and telecommunications management.

"As we approach the launch of several new products in 2003, Laura's experience with product positioning in the medical device
industry should help us strengthen our worldwide marketing efforts and maximize our customer targeting and product exposure," continued Cross. "The revenue and profit potential of our OfficeCare business, an important sales channel with orthopedic surgeons, should benefit from the medical billing and collections experience that Richard brings to dj Orthopedics. Ed's vast experience over a broad range of industries and businesses will enable the Company to better leverage its information systems and streamline our business processes across the entire organization. And finally, having Don's legal expertise in-house provides a better and more cost-effective focus on the Company's legal affairs."

dj Orthopedics is a global orthopedic sports medicine company specializing in the design, manufacture and marketing of products and services that repair, regenerate and rehabilitate soft tissue and bone, help protect against injury, and treat osteoarthritis of the knee. Its broad range of over 600 existing products, many of which are based on proprietary technologies, includes rigid knee braces, soft goods, specialty and other complementary orthopedic products and its recently introduced line of surgical products. These products provide solutions for patients and orthopedic sports medicine professionals throughout the patient's continuum of care.

This press release contains or may contain forward-looking statements such as statements regarding the Company's future growth and profitability, growth strategy and trends in the industry in which the Company operates. Forward-looking statements include references to the Company's belief that its corporate performance improvement program will improve profitability by streamlining its organizational structure, reducing its costs of goods sold and reducing operating expenses, and that the overall program will be strengthened with the additions of four new executive managers. These forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements are the risk that we may not be able to successfully implement our business strategy or our corporate performance improvement program, or that other risk factors could undermine gains made with our strategies and programs, including our ability to successfully develop or license and timely introduce and market new products or product enhancements; our dependence on our orthopedic professionals, agents and distributors for marketing our products; competition in our markets; our limited experience in designing, manufacturing and marketing products for the repair and regeneration segments of the orthopedic sports medicine market; our transition to direct distribution of our products in certain foreign countries; risks associated with our acquisition strategy and international operations; the risk that our quarterly operating results are subject to substantial fluctuations; our high level of indebtedness and the restrictions imposed by the terms of our indebtedness; our ability to generate cash to service our debts; the effects of healthcare reform, managed care and buying groups on prices of our products; the uncertainty of domestic and foreign regulatory clearance and approval of our products; the sensitivity of our business to general economic conditions; uncertainty relating to third party reimbursement; pending litigation; and the other risk factors that are discussed in our Post-Effective Amendment to our Form S-1, filed on September 3, 2002 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Company Investor/Media Contact:
DJO Incorporated
Mark Francois
Director of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations
760-734-4766

Mark.Francois[at]djoglobal[dot]com