Today's Health Winners and Losers

Shares of Tenet Healthcare(THC Quote) were among the best-performing health-related stocks Wednesday, rising 7% after the hospital operator announced a settlement with the U.S. Attorney's office related to an alleged kickback scheme at the company's Alvarado Hospital in San Diego.

The settlement comes after two separate federal juries were unable to reach a verdict on criminal charges that related to physician-relocation agreements at Alvarado. "To avert a third criminal trial as well as potential civil liabilities that could still result, the company agreed to a civil settlement that includes a payment of $21 million to resolve potential civil claims by the government," Tenet said in a press release. As a result of the settlement, the U.S. Attorney in San Diego will dismiss all criminal charges and won't file any civil actions, the company said.

As part of the settlement, Tenet also agreed to sell or close the Alvarado unit within a specified period of time. If the company doesn't sell or close the hospital in a timely manner, the hospital will be excluded from federal health care programs such as Medicare, Tenet said. "The Alvarado case has been a sobering event for Tenet, and it has led to significant reforms and strengthening of compliance standards for physician-relocation agreements at all Tenet hospitals, and at hospitals across the country," the company said. Shares were trading up 52 cents to $7.93.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals(RIGL Quote) fell 1% even after the company said it will receive a $5 million milestone payment from Pfizer(PFE Quote). The payment is being made because Pfizer decided to develop Rigel's R343 small-molecule drug candidate for allergic asthma. "Pfizer's decision to take R343 into development is significant, because it supports the potential of Syk inhibition in the treatment of allergic diseases such as allergic asthma," Rigel said. "It is also significant because Pfizer is committing substantial investment and scientific resources ahead of the clinical development of this new treatment approach." In addition to the $5 million cash payment, Rigel will be eligible for milestone payments tied to clinical events and royalties from any product sales. Shares were down 10 cents to $9.62.