The Federal Trade Commission has withdrawn its appeal seeking a preliminary injunction to stop Laboratory Corporation of America's acquisition of Westcliff Medical Laboratories last year.

According to the FTC, even though Burlington, N.C.-based LabCorp acquired Westcliff, now based in Santa Ana, Calif., in June 2010, the commission sought the injunction to prevent LabCorp from integrating the two companies pending the litigation. The FTC's complaint, issued on Dec. 1, charged that the acquisition violated antitrust laws and would lead to both higher prices and lower quality in the Southern California market for the sale of clinical laboratory testing services to physician groups. It also alleged that the deal would leave just two significant laboratories in that region competing to provide testing services to most physician groups.

The commission voted 4-1 to withdraw the pending appeal. Commissioner Julie Brill dissented and issued a separate statement saying that an appeal would have allowed the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to consider at least three important principles of merger law, including the merger's effect on competition.

“Healthcare costs continue to rise dramatically in this country, and there is considerable debate over how best to contain them,” Brill continued in her statement. “In my view, vigorous antitrust enforcement plays an important role in ensuring that prices charged to healthcare plans, employers, and other purchasers remain competitive. The commission should be particularly vigilant in enforcing the antitrust laws against conduct that could lead to higher prices in important healthcare markets like the one at issue here.”