LEAVE IT TO LEON

Aetna foe factor

Put away the ink pad — the CVS-Aetna merger isn’t getting rubber-stamped anytime soon.

Sources close to the case are betting that US District Judge Richard Leon — who griped earlier this month that CVS and Aetna treated him like a “rubber stamp” because they had already closed the deal before it arrived at his desk — is likely to block CVS from combining with Aetna at a hearing next Tuesday.

“I expect Leon to issue some kind of an injunctive order to keep them from integrating,” a source close to the case told The Post.

Such a ruling, in turn, could kick-start a procedural saga that might delay the $69 billion merger for months, rather than the weeks that most investors anticipate, insiders said.

Leon (inset) surprised Wall Street on Dec. 3 when he refused to give his final OK for the merger, saying he was “less convinced” than regulators that the companies had made enough antitrust concessions.

That’s despite the fact that the Department of Justice on Nov. 28 had cleared the deal, which merges America’s biggest pharmacist with its thirdlargest insurer.

That approval came after the drugstore retail giant found a buyer for Aetna’s Medicare Part D prescription plan business, addressing one key complaint.

After issuing an injunction next Tuesday, people close to the case believe Leon may then schedule a further hearing to see if the Part D sale to WellCare Health Plans addresses the feds’ concerns.

Among the witnesses Leon is expected to call is the American Medical Association, which had expressed concerns about Part D consolidation before that settlement.

It could take a month just for Leon to decide which witnesses to call — and to give them time to change their schedules, said Schulte Roth & Zabel special counsel Gregory Kinzelman, who isn’t involved in the case.

Kinzelman, who predicts that such a hearing would occur in January, said it’s possible Leon could then stage a “mini-trial” in February — and seek additional testimony from economic experts to measure the sufficiency of the Part D remedy.

The judge could then take still more time to write his opinion, according to Kinzelman.

If Leon schedules a hearing next Tuesday, CVS might appeal to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing he is overstepping his authority. But such a move looks unlikely to succeed, sources said.

Leon’s review limits him to the complaint and the proposed solution.

A CVS Health spokesman said, “CVS Health and Aetna are one company, and we look forward to sharing with Judge Leon how we’re already helping patients and members on their path to better health.”

The Department of Justice and American Medical Association declined to comment.