<PAGE>

                                                                    EXHIBIT 20.1

[LETTERHEAD OF RETRACTABLE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.]

April 3, 2002


Dear Shareholder:

I would like to take this opportunity to share with you three articles that have
been published recently in The New York Times. These articles provide insight
into the U.S. healthcare purchasing system with which Retractable Technologies
Inc. has been grappling for some time.

As you may know, Becton Dickinson (BD) and Sherwood Medical (Sherwood) have
maintained an iron grip on the U.S. needle market in spite of their not having
viable safety syringes and blood collection needle products. The results have
been catastrophic for public health in that clinicians have sustained millions
of unnecessary life-threatening needle sticks during the five years that we have
been fighting for market entry, and our shareholders have been deprived of their
rightful investment potential.

Over the years we have received numerous requests from our shareholders about
ways in which they might assist us in our efforts to open the U.S. medical
syringe markets. This media coverage presents an opportunity for Retractable
Technologies shareholders to help with our efforts. Enclosed are the three
articles from The New York Times that relate to our challenges regarding market
entry.

The first two articles relate to some of the mechanisms which keep the
highly-rated VanishPoint(R) products from being clinically demonstrated in most
U.S. acute care facilities. These articles, which ran on page one of The New
York Times on March 4, 2002, and March 26, 2002, report on the relationship
between large medical manufacturers and hospital group purchasing organizations
(GPOs). The articles document in shocking detail some of the anticompetitive
practices utilized by the GPOs and market share leaders BD and Sherwood. The
third is an article regarding Dr. Schlager, who was the Medical Director for BD
for several years.

Thanks in part to the Times' investigation, the U.S. Senate Judiciary
Committee's Subcommittee on Antitrust is planning to hold hearings in April on
GPO contracting practices. I believe this is the first serious attempt on the
part of Congress to confront these powerful rascals regarding the leveraging of
the American medical device market to lockout competitors and ultimately raise
the costs of healthcare.

I urge you to contact your U. S. congressional representative and senator as
well as other key legislators and officials, to call their attention to these
articles and to ask them to take whatever steps are necessary to put a stop to
these unfair, monopolistic practices. If you share

<PAGE>

our determination, concern for the company, and concern for the healthcare
professionals, please let your representatives know.

To quickly obtain the addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of your
legislators, simply go to www.congress.org and type in your zip code number, or
you can call Retractable at (972) 294-1010; Shanna Warner would be happy to
provide you with the contact information for your representative. A letter to
your representative can be sent via email or fax. For your convenience, I have
enclosed a sample letter that you can use to get an idea of the points you might
want to include in your letter.

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Sincerely,

/s/ Thomas J. Shaw

Thomas J. Shaw
President and CEO

Encl.

<PAGE>

                                     SAMPLE

April 3, 2002

Senator/Representative
Office Building
Washington , D.C.

Dear Congressman/Senator/Administration official:

I'm writing to call your attention to the investigative articles on hospital
group purchasing organizations (GPOs) that appeared on page one of The New York
Times of March 4, and March 26, 2002. As a sometime patient [or physician or
                                                             ---------------
health care provider, if that is the case] and taxpayer, I am outraged by the
-----------------------------------------
practices exposed in this article. Without doubt, this scandal is the Enron of
the health care industry.

At a time when hospitals are pleading for additional federal funding and forty
million Americans lack adequate health insurance coverage, it is truly
incredible that a small group of venal purchasing executives have been able to
bilk the American health care system with apparent impunity.

As a shareholder in Retractable Technologies, Inc., a maker of safety needle
devices cited in one of the articles, I am deeply troubled that our company's
efforts to market its life-saving automated retraction needle technology have
been blocked by these anti-competitive practices. Clearly, these activities have
harmed patients and health care workers by depriving them of the best available
medical devices and by discouraging innovation by entrepreneurs and small
companies in the medical device industry.

I respectfully urge you to call on administration officials and your fellow
legislators to take whatever steps are necessary to bring these reprehensible
practices to an immediate halt. Please feel free to contact me if you wish to
discuss this issue further.

Sincerely yours,