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Anthem Inc. said its planned takeover of Cigna Corp. is in danger of collapsing unless there’s a quick trial to resolve a U.S. lawsuit seeking to block the deal. Anthem’s lawyer, Christopher Curran, told U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington on Thursday that the insurer needs a ruling on the $48 billion merger by the end of this year. There is "contentiousness" with Cigna, he said, and its rival won’t extend their agreement past the April 30 termination date. (McLaughlin and Harris, 8/4)

The judge assigned to rule whether the U.S. government can block the mega-mergers of health insurers Aetna Inc and Humana Inc, and Anthem Inc and Cigna Corp said on Thursday it would be difficult for him to decide both cases by the end of the year. ... Aetna and Humana urged Bates this week to hold trials and issue an opinion by the end of 2016. Bates said in a pre-trial hearing on Thursday that was unlikely to happen. "That's my determination: that I can't do both (by the end of the year)," he said. "Unless the schedule is put off, I'm sending one of the cases back." (Bartz, 8/4)