An unusual personal injury lawsuit in California against a University of Iowa pharmaceutical lab has cost the school thousands of dollars in legal fees, and that figure is rising, records show. Iowa is paying a Los Angeles firm up to $500 per hour to contest the lawsuit filed by a pharmacist who contends that she suffered painful eye injuries after being exposed to a trial drug made at UI Pharmaceuticals, which is based at the school’s college of pharmacy. A state panel has approved using $27,000 of the university’s money to pay legal fees, but the costs will mount because a California judge last week rejected Iowa’s request to dismiss the claim.