A lawsuit by the Federal Trade Commission to block the proposed merger between Thomas Jefferson University and the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network in Philadelphia, on grounds it was anti-competitive and violates Section 7 of the Clayton Act, was dismissed by a federal judge.

On Dec. 8, U.S. District Judge Gerald J. Pappert of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said the combined entity does not pose a threat to competition, nor would it result in insurers having less pricing power.