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A federal appeals court on Tuesday denied St. Luke's Health System's request for a rehearing before a full panel of judges, raising the possibility that the system might take its widely watched antitrust fight to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Schencker, 4/21)

St. Elizabeth’s Hospital received the green light from state health regulators Tuesday to move from downtown Belleville to O’Fallon, Ill. All eight of the board members present at Tuesday’s hearing in Bolingbrook, Ill., voted in favor of the controversial project. The Illinois Health Facilities Services Review Board has nine members; one was absent from Tuesday’s hearing. (Liss, 4/21)

Two psychiatrists at a Texas state hospital have resigned after being told they would face disciplinary actions for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking and consulting fees from AstraZeneca while also promoting one of its drugs to state officials, according to a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of State Health Services. (Silverman, 4/21)

Texas hospital Citizens Medical Center will pay the government $21.8 million to settle allegations that it illegally paid doctors for referrals, the U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday. The government alleged that the hospital paid several cardiologists more than the fair market value of their services. It had also alleged that the hospital paid bonuses to emergency room doctors based partly on the value of their cardiology referrals. The compensation arrangements, the Justice Department said, triggered the False Claims Act because they violated the Stark law, which governs physician referrals and financial relationships. (Schencker, 4/21)