U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                              Washington, DC 20549

                                     FORM 4

                  STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP

    Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
       Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or
               Section 30(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

[_]  Check box if no longer  subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations
     may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

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1.   Name and Address of Reporting Person*

    Axmacher                         Thomas
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   (Last)                           (First)             (Middle)

    150 Motor Parkway
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                                    (Street)

    Hauppauge                        New York             11788
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   (City)                           (State)              (Zip)

    Curative Health Services, Inc.  (Cure)
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2.   Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol



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3.   IRS Identification Number of Reporting Person, if an Entity (Voluntary)


     September 2001
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4.   Statement for Month/Year



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5.   If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Year)


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6.   Relationship of Reporting Person to Issuer
     (Check all applicable)

     [ ]  Director                             [_]  10% Owner
     [X]  Officer (give title below)           [_]  Other (specify below)

     Chief Financial Officer
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7.   Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check applicable line)

     [X]  Form filed by one Reporting Person
     [_]  Form filed by more than one Reporting Person
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           Table I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of,
                             or Beneficially Owned
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                                                                                                                6.
                                                                 4.                              5.             Owner-
                                                                 Securities Acquired (A) or      Amount of      ship
                                                    3.           Disposed of (D)                 Securities     Form:     7.
                                                    Transaction  (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)             Beneficially   Direct    Nature of
                                      2.            Code         ------------------------------- Owned at End   (D) or    Indirect
1.                                    Transaction   (Instr. 8)                   (A)             of Month       Indirect  Beneficial
Title of Security                     Date          ------------     Amount      or     Price    (Instr. 3      (I)       Ownership
(Instr. 3)                            (mm/dd/yy)     Code     V                  (D)             and 4)         (Instr.4) (Instr. 4)
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 Common Stock                          09/19/01       M               700         A      4.875
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 Common Stock                          09/19/01       M               1,000       A      5.406    5,895
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*    If the Form is filed by more than one  Reporting  Person,  see  Instruction
     4(b)(v).

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially
          owned directly or indirectly.

                            (Print or Type Response)                      (Over)




FORM 4 (continued)

Table II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
         (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

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                                                                                                                    10.
                                                                                                          9.        Owner-
                                                                                                          Number    ship
                                                                                                          of        Form
                    2.                                                                                    Deriv-    of
                    Conver-                    5.                              7.                         ative     Deriv-   11.
                    sion                       Number of                       Title and Amount           Secur-    ative    Nature
                    or                         Derivative    6.                of Underlying     8.       ities     Secur-   of
                    Exer-             4.       Securities    Date              Securities        Price    Bene-     ity:     In-
                    cise     3.       Trans-   Acquired (A)  Exercisable and   (Instr. 3 and 4)  of       ficially  Direct   direct
                    Price    Trans-   action   or Disposed   Expiration Date   ----------------  Deriv-   Owned     (D) or   Bene-
1.                  of       action   Code     of(D)         (Month/Day/Year)            Amount  ative    at End    In-      ficial
Title of            Deriv-   Date     (Instr.  (Instr. 3,    ----------------            or      Secur-   of        direct   Owner-
Derivative          ative    (Month/  8)       4 and 5)      Date     Expira-            Number  ity      Month     (I)      ship
Security            Secur-   Day/     ------   ------------  Exer-    tion               of      (Instr.  (Instr.   (Instr.  (Instr.
(Instr. 3)          ity      Year)    Code V    (A)   (D)    cisable  Date      Title    Shares   5)       4)        4)       4)
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 Incentive Stock                                                                 Common
 Option              4.875   9/19/01   M               700    9/19/01  2/17/04   Stock     700     4.875
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 Incentive Stock                                                                 Common
 Option              5.406   9/19/01   M               1,000  9/19/01  5/31/10   Stock     1,000   5.406
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 Incentive Stock                                                                 Common
 Option              5.70    3/30/01        V   10,000          (1)    3/30/11   Stock     10,000  5.70    79,625     D
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Explanation of Responses:(1) Incentive Stock Option granted pursuant to Curative
Health Services, Inc. 2000 Stock Incentive Plan.  Options shall become
exercisable with respect to one third of the shares on the first day of the
month following the one year anniversary and thereafter shall become exercisable
with respect to the balance of the shares in equal monthly installments on the
last date of each of the eight successive (3) month periods following the
exercisability date.


        /s/ John C. Prior                                   October 10, 2001
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            John C. Prior (Attorney in Fact)                      Date
      **Signature of Reporting Person


**     Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal
       Criminal Violations.

See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).

Note:  File three copies of this Form, one of which must be manually signed.
       If space provided is insufficient, see Instruction 6 for procedure.


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