Report links three serious injuries to compounded GLP-1s from pharmacies tied to Mochi Health

Three patients in three states suffered severe medical emergencies after using compounded GLP-1 drugs made by pharmacies that, at different points in time, supplied the online telehealth company Mochi Health, according to an investigation published September 4, 2026 ^[1]. The allegations are contested, and Mochi has not publicly described how it chooses or oversees the pharmacies in its network ^[1].

Compounded drugs do not go through the same FDA approval process as brand-name products like Ozempic and Wegovy, which contain semaglutide, or Mounjaro and Zepbound, which contain tirzepatide ^[1].

Three cases, three states

Don Rhodes filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in Texas over the death of his 50-year-old daughter, a single mother of two, who he says died after 29 days in critical illness ^[1]. The suit says she had taken compounded semaglutide for months and fell gravely ill when her prescription was raised to a stronger dose; the drug came from Empower Pharmacy ^[1]. She was not a Mochi patient and got the medication elsewhere ^[1].

"Our children are supposed to outlive us," Rhodes said. "That's kind of a rule. And that rule got broken." ^[1]

Empower denies the allegations. In filings in Harris County, Texas, its lawyers called the lawsuit inflammatory and said it fails to show what killed Rhodes' daughter, and the company is seeking dismissal ^[1]. Empower also said its quality record is strong and that problems flagged by federal regulators have been corrected, stating that "patient safety and quality are foundational to how Empower operates" ^[1].

In Kentucky, Jimmie Wilson says she received a liver transplant days after starting compounded tirzepatide from Lexington Compounding Pharmacy ^[1]. Her lawsuit states she had no history of liver disease and normal liver-function results before the medication ^[1]. She recalled her doctor calling at about 8:15 one morning to say her liver enzymes were "astronomical" ^[1]. The pharmacy has denied responsibility, arguing no scientific evidence ties its product to her liver failure, and the case is still open ^[1].

Shawn Rose, a Mochi customer in Illinois, says he was admitted to the hospital four separate times after injecting a compounded GLP-1 from a different pharmacy in Mochi's network ^[1]. In one social media video he said he had been hospitalized since January 2 ^[1]. Illinois health officials are looking into it ^[1].

Pharmacy oversight in question

Aequita Pharmacy, a Kirkland, Washington, compounding operation that once made GLP-1s in-house for Mochi, was raided by state inspectors and closed after regulators cited a "serious risk" to patients ^[1]. Inspection findings included questions about workers' licensing, expired medications and GLP-1 base powder that officials said was imported illegally from overseas ^[1]. Mochi then began working with Empower ^[1].

Federal regulators have sent Empower three warning letters since 2022 alleging violations of federal law, and 15 state pharmacy boards have opened investigations involving the company, according to records reviewed in the investigation ^[1]. The Drug Enforcement Administration fined Empower $65,000 in 2024 over allegations involving unlawful shipment of controlled substances ^[1].

Shabbir Imber Safdar, executive director of the nonprofit Partnership for Safe Medicines, said enforcement tends to land on individual pharmacies rather than the telehealth companies that market the drugs to patients. "What happens to the telehealth company is pretty much nothing," he said. "They just eject the compounding pharmacy that's been operating dangerously from their network, and they pick up a new compounding pharmacy." ^[1]

Dosing mistakes are a separate risk. Reporting in May found that medication errors involving GLP-1s have climbed alongside telehealth prescribing, based on a KFF Health News review of FDA data ^[2]. Karleigh McClain, 31, of Hendersonville, Tennessee, said she was hospitalized within 24 hours of her first shot; the instructions called for 2.21 milligrams of semaglutide weekly, nearly nine times the usual starting amount, and she was diagnosed with an overdose ^[2]. Close to a month later she said she still had a fast heart rate and vision trouble ^[2]. Court data shows product-liability claims over weight-loss drugs have been filed overwhelmingly against Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, the makers of the brand-name versions, and both companies have defended their products ^[2].

Why it matters for patients

When a GLP-1 arrives through a telehealth service, the patient usually has no say in which pharmacy produced it, and that supplier can be swapped out without the patient's knowledge ^[1]. That makes it harder to trace who made a given vial and who bears responsibility if something goes wrong ^[1]. Because compounded versions are not FDA-approved the way brand-name semaglutide and tirzepatide are, the oversight record is thinner and harder for a patient to check ^[1]. A wrong starting dose, meanwhile, is a different kind of hazard than a manufacturing defect, and the Tennessee case shows how wide the gap can be between what a label says and what is considered typical ^[2]. It has not been reported how many people receive compounded GLP-1s through Mochi's current suppliers, or whether the company has changed its screening since these cases ^[1]. No court has ruled on what caused any of the three patients' injuries ^[1].

What happens next

Empower's motion to dismiss the Texas case is pending in Harris County, with no ruling date reported ^[1]. Wilson's Kentucky lawsuit remains pending ^[1]. Illinois authorities are investigating the Rose case and have not disclosed findings ^[1].