A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging a group of central Iowa pathologists conspired to maintain a monopoly at the expense of patients.

The lawsuit was one of three involving allegations of unfair competition, harassment, retaliation and discrimination among central Iowa pathologists.

The suit was filed in May 2024 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa by four pathologists who last year established Goldfinch Laboratory of Urbandale – physicians Tiffani Milless, Caitlin Halverson, Renee Ellerbroek and Jared Abbott.

The four sued their previous employers, Iowa Pathology Associates of Des Moines and Regional Laboratory Consultants, alleging the two companies tried to suppress competition for pathology services in central Iowa and maintain a monopoly, all in violation of state and federal law.

Each of the companies provides dermatopathology and other pathology services for patients in central Iowa whose physicians require laboratory services that provide medical diagnoses from biological specimens.

The lawsuit alleged that since 2021, IPA and RLC pressured its pathologists to sign employment agreements that include a no-compete clause. At the time, the four IPA-employed pathologists who would later depart and form Goldfinch refused to sign the agreement.

The lawsuit claims the agreement was not intended to prohibit the use of confidential corporate information and was instead aimed at maintaining IPA’s and RLC’s monopoly on services.

As part of its lawsuit, Goldfinch accused IPA of refusing to share biopsy slides with Goldfinch pathologists, even when those slides were required to ensure the continuity of care offered to patients and even when, according to Goldfinch, the refusal “could well have caused harm to patients.”

IPA and RLC denied any wrongdoing and filed a motion to have the case dismissed. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger recently granted the motion after finding that Goldfinch failed to define a geographic market in which consumers had no other source for pathology services.

“Even assuming central Iowa is where the defendants draw a sufficiently large portion of their business, Goldfinch has not sufficiently alleged a plausible reason why potential referral sources cannot practicably turn to alternative sources outside central Iowa,” the judge ruled. “Goldfinch has not plausibly identified a relevant market as required to allege attempted monopolization.”

Two other lawsuits still pending

The federal lawsuit followed a still-pending state court lawsuit filed by IPA and RLC against the four Goldfinch partners in late 2022 that is in the final stages of litigation.

That lawsuit seeks to block Goldfinch from soliciting IPA clients or using IPA information, and alleges the Goldfinch pathologists were “flagrantly, rampantly and disloyally working against” IPA’s interests even before they left IPA.

A bench trial in that case was held last month, but the court has yet to issue a decision and recent post-trial briefs are sealed from public view.

Separately, two of the Goldfinch pathologists — Tiffani Milless and Caitlin Halverson – have filed a discrimination lawsuit against IPA and RLC, alleging they were paid $200,000 to $350,000 annually, which they claim was far less than what some of the less qualified male doctors were paid.

A trial in that case is scheduled for August 2025.

IOWA CITY — Anyone who has visited Carver-Hawkeye Arena this season has seen the banner rolled up in the rafters, waiting to be unveiled at the perfect time. No one can see what’s on it. But everyone attached to Iowa women’s basketball knows what’s on it.

It comes down Feb. 2.

Caitlin Clark’s No. 22 will be retired on, by no coincidence, 2-2-25, the university announced Wednesday. The ceremony will coincide with arguably the Hawkeyes’ biggest home game of the season, as JuJu Watkins and USC will be in the building to watch Clark’s legacy further cemented in Iowa women’s basketball lore.

“I’m forever proud to be a Hawkeye and Iowa holds a special place in my heart that is bigger than just basketball,” Clark said in a school release. “It means the world to me to receive this honor and to celebrate it with my family, friends and alumni. It will be a great feeling to look up in the rafters and see my jersey alongside those that I’ve admired for so long.”

It was announced in April at the team’s end-of-year celebration that Clark’s jersey would be retired in the near future, a fitting announcement as Iowa honored another team reaching the national title game. After proudly proclaiming she’d take Iowa to its first Final Four in three decades, Clark did that twice and then some with a bevy of unforgettable heroics and accolades.

Atop the list is her unmatched scoring prowess. In a 17-day span from Feb. 15 to March 3, Clark broke Kelsey Plum’s all-time women’s NCAA Division I scoring record, passed AIAW legend Lynette Woodard for the major college scoring record, then passed LSU’s Pete Maravich for most career points in Division I history.

More: Caitlin Clark named Time magazine’s 2024 Athlete of the Year

Clark is a two-time recipient of the Wooden, Naismith, Wade, Ann Meyers Drysdale, Honda Cup and AAU Sullivan awards. The two-time consensus national player of the year led Iowa to back-to-back national championship games (2023-24) and three Big Ten Tournament titles (2022-24). Clark also won the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award and Dawn Staley Award three times each.

Clark is the only player in NCAA Division I men’s or women’s basketball history to lead her conference in scoring and assists four consecutive seasons. In her senior year, Clark led the nation in 10 different offensive categories, and broke the women’s NCAA Tournament scoring record. She’s since been drafted No. 1 overall to the Indiana Fever, won WNBA rookie of the year and was named TIME Magazines athlete of the year.

“Caitlin Clark has not only redefined excellence on the court but has also inspired countless young athletes to pursue their dreams with passion and determination,” Iowa AD Beth Goetz said in a statement. “Her remarkable achievements have left an indelible mark on the University of Iowa and the world of women’s basketball.

“Retiring her number is a testament to her extraordinary contributions and a celebration of her legacy that will continue to inspire future generations. Hawkeye fans are eager to say thank you for so many incredible moments.”

More: How to buy tickets for Iowa vs USC

Dargan Southard is a sports trending reporter and covers Iowa athletics for the Des Moines Register and HawkCentral.com. Email him at msouthard@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Dargan_Southard.

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — No. 4 UConn sank a program-record 20 3-pointers in a 101-68 rout of Iowa State on Tuesday night in the second game of the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase doubleheader.

The Huskies comfortably surpassed their previous season high of 14 3-pointers, converting 58.8% of their attempts (20 of 34) against the Cyclones, who were 8 of 25 from deep.

“Basketball is a make-shot, miss-shot game, and they made a lot of them, and that’s to their credit. They’re a great team,” Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. “They play the game the right way. So just nothing we could do to stop it.

“The way they shot the ball was unlike something I’ve seen in a long time.”

UConn sophomore Ashlynn Shade had seven 3-pointers en route to 27 points, both career highs.

“I really didn’t expect this. I thought we would have a difficult time,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “I said, ‘We need to win the 3-point battle by quite a few because they make nine a game.’

“When the basket looks big early on, the basket just gets bigger as the game goes on, and for some players, they make their first two or three, they think they can make the next 23.”

Shade was 6 of 6 from beyond the arc in the first quarter, scoring 20 points.

“It means everything to be a part of something that’s so big, being part of UConn history,” said Shade, who finished 7 of 10 from deep. “It’s just super surreal.”

The Huskies also got a quintet of 3s from freshman Sarah Strong (5 of 9, career-high 29 points) and senior Paige Bueckers (5 of 7, 27 points).

It marked the first time in the past 25 seasons that UConn had three players with at least 25 points in the same game. No other Division I team has had a trio of players do that this season.

Bueckers, Shade and Strong are also the first Division I trio with at least 25 points and five 3-pointers apiece in the same game over the past 25 seasons.

Freshman Allie Ziebell notched UConn’s 19th 3-pointer to set the program record (previously set in 2014-15 and 2008-09) with 3:19 left in the game, before classmate Morgan Cheli made No. 20 with 2:04 to go.

“It would have been a bad game of H-O-R-S-E the way they were knocking them in,” Fennelly said.

Added Shade: “It was just super cool to be a part of and just such a fun game to play.”

The 3-point outburst from Shade in particular was welcomed, giving the Huskies a third major scorer. They’ve missed that recently with guard Azzi Fudd sidelined the past three games because of a knee sprain.

“I think we’re going to need three legitimate big-time scorers the entire season,” Auriemma said. “Where they come from, it really doesn’t matter to me, but hopefully we’ll have at least four maybe when Azzi gets back.”

UConn next faces No. 7 USC on Saturday in Hartford, Connecticut, in its second top-10 matchup this month. It lost to then-No. 8 Notre Dame last week.

No. 5 LSU beat Seton Hall 91-64 in the opener of Women’s Showcase earlier Tuesday.

Information from ESPN Research was used in this report.