Business news in brief

A Texas unit of Universal Health Services Inc., the King of Prussia medical-services provider, agreed to pay $27.5 million to settle federal claims the company paid illegal kickbacks to doctors, federal prosecutors said. The Justice Department alleged McAllen Hospitals, doing business as South Texas Health System, paid doctors to induce them to refer patients to hospitals within the group. Universal Health Services agreed to enter into a corporate integrity agreement covering South Texas Health System facilities, the company said in a statement. - Bloomberg News

FMC Corp., a Philadelphia chemical company, said it would appeal the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to make illegal a particular insecticide without holding a hearing where FMC and a group of farm groups could challenge the ban. FMC and its supporters have argued that carbofuran should be allowed in very limited use, where there are no alternatives. The ban goes into effect after Dec. 31. - Harold Brubaker

Harleysville National Corp., a Montgomery County bank being purchased by First Niagara Financial Group Inc. for $237 million, reported a third-quarter loss of $4.4 million, or 10 cents per share, on a higher provision for loan losses and an additional write-down of certain investments. After the quarter ended Sept. 30, two troubled loans totaling $18 million were paid off, the bank said. In the third quarter of 2008, Harleysville National, which will be rebranded First Niagara next year, had a net income of $6.6 million, or 21 cents per share. - Harold Brubaker

Pennsylvania jobs at Sermatech International, which makes industrial coatings, are being phased out over the next three months. The Pottstown company, which has a plant in Royersford, was bought last summer by Praxair Surface Technologies Inc., which also makes coatings. Nigel Muir, a spokesman for Praxair, said the Royersford plant, which employs 50, will be shut by mid-December. The administrative office in Pottstown, where five or six people work, will close by the end of January. The Pennsylvania employees will not be offered work elsewhere in the company. - Stacey Burling

DuPont Co., the Wimington chemical- maker, said board chairman Charles O. Holliday, 61, would retire Dec. 31 after 11 years as chairman. It said in September 2008 that CEO Ellen Kullman, 53, would become chair when Holliday retired. - Bloomberg News

The chief executive officer of the American College of Physicians, a Philadelphia-based medical society representing 129,000 internal-medicine doctors and medical students, is stepping down. John Tooker, 65, who became executive vice president and CEO in 2002, said he would stay on until a replacement was named. "My decision was influenced by a family member's health, and my desire to spend more time with my family," he said in a news release. A spokesman declined to explain the health problem. - Stacey Burling

Emergent Health Corp. announced an 11-for-10 stock split for shareholders of record Dec. 31. Its shares closed up 42 cents at 79 cents. The King of Prussia regenerative-medicine firm said in September that it sought increased liquidity and a broadening of its shareholder base. Yesterday, Emergent said it remained solvent and committed to its long-term business objectives. The Securities and Exchange Commission had suspended trading in Emergent shares for about two weeks, until the middle of October. - Roslyn Rudolph

Commercial lender CIT Group Inc. said billionaire investor and bondholder Carl Icahn agreed to support the company's restructuring plan and provide it with a $1 billion line of credit. Icahn has been an outspoken critic in recent weeks of CIT Group's plan to restructure its debt in an effort to avoid collapse. CIT has been trying to reduce its near-term debt burden by $5.7 billion. - AP

Wages and benefits of U.S. workers

rose by the smallest amount on record in the 12 months ending in September, as high unemployment limits the income growth of people still receiving paychecks. The average cost of wages, health care, and other benefits increased 1.5 percent in the year ending in September, the smallest gain since records began in

June 1982, the Labor Department said. Wages and benefits rose a seasonally adjusted 0.4 percent in the July-September quarter, the same as the second quarter and matching analysts' expectations. - AP

Consumer spending plunged in September by the largest amount in nine months, reflecting the end of the government's "Cash for Clunkers" auto-sales program. The Commerce Department said spending dropped 0.5 percent in September, the first decline in five months. Personal incomes were unchanged as workers contend with rising unemployment. - AP