TAMPA - A couple who own a pharmacy were under arrest Thursday, charged with concocting homemade medication and passing it off as drugs to treat cystic fibrosis.
They also face a lawsuit from the Florida Attorney General's Office.
Patricia A. Hauser, 50, and her husband, Roderick J.Q. Hauser, 37, were held in the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $5,000 bail each. They face charges of with unlawfully compounding and dispensing counterfeit medicine and fraud.
The Hausers are not licensed pharmacists in Florida but owned a pharmacy in Oldsmar called Rapha Associates. Its Web site also advertises janitorial supplies, church supplies and food products.
One of the phony medicines, which are used through inhalers, was contaminated by bacteria, the Attorney General's Office said.
The lawsuit filed in Hillsborough Circuit Court in Tampa seeks $245,000 in damages and penalties.
The Hausers each face felonies punishable by up to 30 years in prison if convicted as charged.
