Also . .

* U.S. District Judge Robert Kelleher in Los Angeles dismissed a lawsuit that accused Aetna Chairman Richard L. Huber of defaming a California attorney by calling him an “ambulance-chasing lawyer.” Kelleher said Huber’s remarks were protected by the 1st Amendment. Huber made the comment about Michael J. Bidart after the Claremont attorney won a $120.5-million judgment against the health insurer on behalf of a man who died of stomach cancer. Bidart’s lawsuit accused an Aetna subsidiary of refusing to pay for the man’s treatments. Aetna is appealing the verdict.