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A federal judge said on Tuesday that he was considering using a court-appointed monitor to make sure CVS Health Corp refrains from fully integrating with insurer Aetna while he examines the companies' settlement with the government. Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held the hearing as part of his review of the antitrust settlement reached with the Justice Department to win approval for the companies' $69 billion merger. (12/18)

Judge Richard J. Leon, of the United States District Court in the District of Columbia, stopped short of an attempt to block the $69 billion merger, but he reiterated his concerns over the Justice Department’s approval of the combination. He went on to scold the government’s lawyers for being “hostile to the role of the federal courts” in looking after the public’s interest, telling them they “would do well to re-evaluate the tone with which you address this court.” (Baumgaertner, 12/18)

CVS has argued that halting all integration would cause irreparable harm to the company and its customers. Instead, it offered four measures it said would help facilitate Judge Leon’s review. Among them, CVS pledged that Aetna would maintain its historical control over pricing of products and services for its insurance customers, and that CVS and Aetna wouldn’t exchange competitively sensitive information for the time being. (Kendall, 12/18)

CVS Health attorney Enu Mainigi said the company could follow its self-imposed measures for six months pending Leon's review, but that adhering to them any longer than that could prove problematic. Leon told her that he couldn't give "a promise or an estimate" on when he is likely to wrap up the review. "Each case is unique," he said. (Luthi, 12/18)