(Slip Opinion)               OCTOBER  TERM,  1999                                       1

                                     Per Curiam

       NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the
       preliminary print of the United States Reports.   Readers are requested to
       notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
       ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order
       that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
                                     _________________

                                      No. 99­391
                                     _________________

      ROBIN FREE, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. ABBOTT
                    LABORATORIES, INC., ET AL.
 ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF
                    APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT
                                    [April 3, 2000]

   PER CURIAM.
   The judgment is affirmed by an equally divided Court.
   JUSTICE O'CONNOR took no part in the consideration or
decision of this case.