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

                                     FORM 5

               ANNUAL 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).

[_]  Form 3 Holdings Reported

[_]  Form 4 Transactions Reported

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1.   Name and Address of Reporting Person*

      Prior                           John                   C.
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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)
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2.   Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol

     Curative Health Services, Inc.  (Cure)

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



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4.   Statement for Month/Year

     December 2001

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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)

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

      President Specialty Health Services
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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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                                                                                                 5.             6.
                                                                 4.                              Amount of      Owner-
                                                                 Securities Acquired (A) or      Securities     ship
                                                                 Disposed of (D)                 Beneficially   Form:     7.
                                                                 (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)             Owned at End   Direct    Nature of
                                      2.            3.           -----------------------------   of Issuer's    (D) or    Indirect
1.                                    Transaction   Transaction                  (A)             Fiscal Year    Indirect  Beneficial
Title of Security                     Date          Code             Amount      or     Price    (Instr. 3      (I)       Ownership
(Instr. 3)                            (mm/dd/yy)    (Instr. 8)                   (D)             and 4)         (Instr.4) (Instr. 4)
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 Common Stock                                                                                     21,915 (1)     I      By 401k plan
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 Common Stock (2)                      8/24/01        A               10,000      A               31,200         D
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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 Responses)                      (Over)




FORM 5 (continued)

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

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                                                                                                          9.        10.
                                                                                                          Number    Owner-
                                                                                                          of        ship
                    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-                      Securities    Date              Securities        Price    Bene-     ity:     In-
                    cise     3.                Acquired (A)  Exercisable and   (Instr. 3 and 4)  of       ficially  Direct   direct
                    Price    Trans-   4.       or Disposed   Expiration Date   ----------------  Deriv-   Owned     (D) or   Bene-
1.                  of       action   Trans-   of (D)        (Month/Day/Year)            Amount  ative    at End    In-      ficial
Title of            Deriv-   Date     action   (Instr. 3,    ----------------            or      Secur-   of        direct   Owner-
Derivative          ative    (Month/  Code     4 and 5)      Date     Expira-            Number  ity      Year      (I)      ship
Security            Secur-   Day/     (Instr.  ------------  Exer-    tion               of      (Instr.  (Instr.   (Instr.  (Instr.
(Instr. 3)          ity      Year)    8)        (A)   (D)    cisable  Date     Title     Shares  5)       4)        4)       4)
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 Incentive Stock                                                                Common
 Option              5.70     3/30/01  A        20,000       (3)       3/30/11  Stock     20,000  5.70     20,000    D
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Explanation of Responses:
(1) The reporting person acquired 802 shares through Company 401k Plan from
January 1st. through December 31., 2001 at various share prices.
(2) Restricted  Stock Award granted  pursuant to Curative Health  Services,
Inc. 2001 Broad Based Stock Option 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.
(3)Incentive  Stock Options granted  pursuant to Curative Health  Services,
Inc. 2000 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                                    February 14, 2002
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           John C. Prior                                         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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