U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon has set the start of hearings on the merger of CVS and Aetna for June 3 with up to three days of testimony anticipated.   The $69 billion merger has closed but the deal still requires court approval to finalize.  Judge Leon has chosen six witnesses to testify at the hearing, three each from both the amici and DOJ/CVS positions.

In addition, the attorneys general from five states have joined with DOJ in a lawsuit to enforce the conditional approval of the merger.  (California, Florida, Hawaii, Mississippi and Washington)  They are motivated by the requirement that Aetna’s Medicare Part D plans be transitioned to WellCare Health Plans.   These State have asked Judge Leon to give each of them 10 minutes to speak during the hearings to present their side.

The DOJ and CVS have requested that the Judge block certain witnesses and types of testimony during the merger review.  It is their concern that some of the suggested witnesses would be testifying on the anti-competitive harms of the merger not on the agreed upon limitation of whether or not it is  “in the public’s best interest”.

Read more at HealthLeaders.

Read more at Healthcare Dive.