Washington shuts down Aequita Pharmacy, the compounder behind Mochi Health's GLP-1 supply
Patients who bought compounded GLP-1s through a telehealth company may have little visibility into how its pharmacy suppliers are chosen or when they change [1].
Washington state health inspectors raided Aequita Pharmacy, a compounding facility inside a business park in Kirkland, Washington, and shut it down. Regulators called what they found a "serious risk" to patients [1]. For Mochi Health, an online telehealth company that markets weight-loss treatment, the closure removed the in-house source of its compounded GLP-1 medications [1].
Inspection findings included workers whose licensing or qualifications were questioned, expired medications on hand, and concerns about how ingredients were handled and where they came from [1]. Investigators also found GLP-1 base powder that state officials said had been brought into the country illegally from overseas [1]. Former Aequita employees later described their own worries about how the facility ran and alleged that company leadership put financial considerations ahead of patient safety; those allegations have been disputed [1].
Mochi needed a supplier able to produce at large scale and turned to Empower Pharmacy, one of the largest compounding pharmacies in the country [1]. Empower already had a regulatory record: three FDA warning letters since 2022 alleging violations of federal law, inspection findings involving contamination and expired or improperly labeled medications, investigations by 15 state pharmacy boards — many ending in disciplinary action or formal reprimands — and a $65,000 Drug Enforcement Administration fine in 2024 over allegations involving the unlawful shipment of controlled substances [1]. Empower said in a statement that patient safety and quality are "foundational" to how it operates and that it has addressed problems federal regulators identified earlier [1].
At least three patients in three states have had medical emergencies that they or their families connect to compounded GLP-1 drugs made by pharmacies that at various points supplied Mochi's network [1]. Don Rhodes's 50-year-old daughter, a single mother of two, was in a Houston emergency room and died 29 days later; his Texas lawsuit says she had used a compounded version of Ozempic (semaglutide) for several months and became critically ill in intensive care after her dose was increased [1]. She was not a Mochi customer and got her medication from Empower through another source, and Empower argues the lawsuit does not establish a scientific link between its product and her death, asking the court to dismiss it [1].
In Kentucky, Jimmie Wilson says she needed a liver transplant within days of starting a compounded version of Zepbound (tirzepatide) from Lexington Compounding Pharmacy, another pharmacy that has had a relationship with Mochi [1]. Her lawsuit says she had no history of liver disease and normal liver-function tests beforehand; the pharmacy denies responsibility and says there is no scientific evidence linking its product to her liver failure [1]. In Illinois, Mochi customer Shawn Rose says he was hospitalized four times after injecting a compounded GLP-1 from a different pharmacy in Mochi's network, and state health authorities are investigating [1]. Separately, a September 2026 litigation update reports that on April 29, 2026, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake in the Southern District of Texas dismissed part of Eli Lilly's case against Empower over compounded tirzepatide, throwing out federal trademark claims and Texas unfair competition claims while letting other states' unfair competition claims proceed [2].
Why it matters for patients
Compounded drugs are not approved by the FDA the way commercially manufactured brand-name drugs are [1]. When a compounding pharmacy runs into serious regulatory trouble, the telehealth company that marketed the medication can drop it and sign with another supplier, according to Shabbir Imber Safdar, executive director of the nonprofit Partnership for Safe Medicines [1].
"What happens to the telehealth company is pretty much nothing," Safdar said. "They just eject the compounding pharmacy that's been operating dangerously from their network, and they pick up a new compounding pharmacy" [1]. He says that pattern can leave patients unsure who is accountable when something goes wrong [1].
A warning letter described in one litigation update cited gaps in sterility assurance, environmental monitoring and endotoxin testing for injectable drugs [2]. Poorly tested injectables can carry bacteria, and endotoxin contamination can set off fever, organ failure and sepsis, according to that account [2].
What happens next
Rhodes's lawsuit is pending in Harris County, Texas, where Empower is seeking dismissal [1]. Wilson's case remains pending in Kentucky [1]. Illinois health authorities are investigating Rose's hospitalization reports [1]. No trial date, global settlement or multidistrict consolidation of the patient injury claims has been confirmed [2]. Whether Washington regulators or Mochi face further action over the Aequita closure has not been reported [1].
Sources
Semaglutides.org provides information only, not medical advice. Talk to a licensed provider about your own care before making changes. Some telehealth links are affiliate links and are labeled where they appear.