An antitrust lawsuit over pathology laboratory work in Central Iowa is escalating, the Iowa Capital Dispatch reported.
Unfair competition, harassment, retaliation, and even discrimination highlight the case in which Goldfinch Laboratory in Urbandale has sued Iowa Pathology Associates (IPA) and Regional Laboratory Consultants (RLC), according to the Dispatch.
Goldfinch provides dermatopathology and other pathology services. IPA is an independent laboratory that, through its pathologists, also provides dermatopathology and other pathology services. IPA and RLC share profits, and all parties have contracts with multistate insurance companies and with Medicare, according to the filing.
A fight for referrals arose after pathologists Drs. Tiffani Milless, Caitlin Halverson, Renee Ellerbroek, and Jared Abbott left IPA to form a competitive pathology practice, Goldfinch Laboratory, according to the case filing. IPA had no competition before the pathologists' departure.
According to the lawsuit, since 2021, IPA and RLC pressured its pathologists to sign employment agreements that included a noncompete clause. At the time, Milless, Halverson, Ellerbroek, and Abbott, who would later leave and form Goldfinch, refused to sign the agreement.
"The on-going campaign by IPA and RLC to get the four pathologists who gave notice of their intent to form a new pathology practice to sign the noncompetition agreement was only the beginning of their efforts to suppress competition in the market for pathology services, and the submarket for dermatopathology services, in central Iowa and the on-going attempts by IPA and RLC to monopolize those markets," the filing stated, adding that the Goldfinch pathologists were "locked out" of ongoing relations with potential referral sources.
Other complaints include that when Goldfinch was launched, IPA refused to share biopsy slides with Goldfinch pathologists when those slides were required for patient continuity of care -- even though this practice is contrary to the standard of care. Goldfinch also asserts that IPA and RLC induced referral sources not to make referrals to Goldfinch. In the court record, Goldfinch said it incurred losses of over $3.3 million.
Noting a lucrative contract with a local hospital, Goldfinch claims that "IPA and RLC charge rural hospitals at least 400% of the actual Medicare fee schedule amount for the technical component of pathology services for Medicare patients." Moreover, the two companies charge the Veterans Administration hospital in Des Moines substantially above the Medicare benchmark rates as well, according to the filing.
The complaint was filed in the Southern District of Iowa in May. IPA and RLC have denied any wrongdoing and filed a motion to dismiss the case, according to a Dispatch article dated October 23. This federal lawsuit follows a state court lawsuit filed by IPA and RLC against the four Goldfinch partners in late 2022 that is in the final stages of litigation, the Dispatch noted.
That lawsuit seeks to block Goldfinch from soliciting IPA clients or using IPA information. It also alleges the Goldfinch pathologists were "flagrantly, rampantly and disloyally working against" IPA's interests even before they left IPA, the Dispatch said, adding that a bench trial in that case was held last month, but the court has yet to issue its decision. Recent post-trial briefs are sealed from public view.
Goldfinch is seeking damages, an injunction to bar IPA and RLC from certain activities, and an order for declaratory relief. A trial is expected to take place in 2025.
