Tobi Ness credits a cheaper, off-brand GLP-1 drug with saving her life. But the company that sold it to her has a troubling record of safety violations.

SEATTLE — Tobi Ness had tried everything. 

Weight Watchers. Calorie counting. Every diet that promised results. Nothing worked for the Tacoma woman, who spent her days as a general manager at a Pierce County Denny’s — surrounded by food from the moment she clocked in. 

“I would see a particular food item go out and I would think about those cheese sticks or that burger until I would eat it,” she said. At her heaviest, she weighed 225 pounds and was exhausted all the time. 



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Then she found GLP-1, the blockbuster class of weight loss medications that has transformed the lives of millions of Americans. Using discount coupons, she started buying Mounjaro, a name-brand GLP-1 drug, and the results were almost immediate. 

“It was amazing,” she said. “The first month I lost 20 pounds.” 

But the coupons eventually ran out and the sticker price was a hard stop. 

“If you didn’t go to a telehealth provider, you were going to pay $1,100 (a month) out of pocket for it,” she said. Could she afford that? “Could not afford that.” 

That’s when she found Mochi. 


A Cheaper Alternative With a Troubling History 

Mochi Health is an online-only telehealth company that sold Ness a compounded, off-brand version of Mounjaro for $199 a month, plus a membership fee. For patients priced out of name-brand GLP-1 drugs, the appeal is obvious. 

What Ness didn’t know, and what a four-month KING 5 investigation has uncovered, is what was happening behind the scenes at the Kirkland, Washington, pharmacy that manufactured and shipped Mochi’s drugs to thousands of patients across the country. 

Former employees paint a damning picture. 

“At every turn it was, ‘How can we make more money out of this?'” said Paul Meyers, a former lab manager at the facility. 

“Not patient centered. It was more definitely for profit,” said Roxanne Elder, a former pharmacy assistant. 

“I honestly think they were just after the money,” added Alexis Rodriguez, another former pharmacy employee. “They didn’t care about patient safety.” 

State health inspectors substantiated those concerns, when they made a surprise inspection of Aequita Pharmacy in Kirkland in March of 2025. Records show managers employed unlicensed workers and allowed them to perform the highly technical work of compounding — mixing drugs — inside the facility’s clean room, work that legally requires a pharmacist’s or pharmacy technician’s license. Inspectors also documented numerous quality control violations and the illegal importation of restricted pharmaceutical ingredients from overseas labs. 


A Patient Hospitalized 

The consequences weren’t merely regulatory. Shawn Rose, a Chicago man who was a Mochi customer, says the medication sent him to the emergency room. 

“Immediately within about an hour to an hour and a half of taking that medication, I ended up in the hospital,” he said. At one point, he said, doctors told him: “If you wouldn’t have come in when you did, you would have probably died.” 

Illinois health authorities are investigating Rose’s claims. 

The Washington State Pharmacy Board moved against the Kirkland facility last year, effectively shutting Aequita Pharmacy down. But Mochi Health has not closed. The company has since shifted its Washington state orders to Key Compounding, a pharmacy in Federal Way.  

Lisa Paris, Key’s General Manager, declined to answer questions from KING 5 referring a reporter to parent company Revelation Pharma. Revelation Pharma General Counsel Richard Bennet replied in an email, “We don’t have a comment at this time.” 

Mochi Health has also declined to comment to KING 5 and CEO Myra Ahmad refused to answer questions when approached by an investigative reporter from NBC Bay Area at a women’s conference in San Francisco in April. 


Still a Believer 

Ness has been following the KING 5 investigation closely. She knows what’s been found. She remains on the drug. 

“I guess I was one of the lucky ones. I never had a problem,” she said. 

When asked whether Mochi’s history gave her pause, she was measured but unwavering. “I think at some point, maybe they grew too fast,” she said. “If they had the problems with that pharmacy, I really believe in my heart there’s not going to be any problems with the other pharmacies.” 

Did she believe the product was safe for her? “1,000%,” she said.

It is a belief born of results that are hard to argue with. Over the course of one year on the medication, Tobi Ness lost 110 pounds. 

“Without these telehealth providers, this life-changing medicine that changed my life and gave me the life back. I wouldn’t be able to have it,” she said. 


A Warning From Experts 

Richard Molitor, a retired Washington state pharmacist, is less reassured. He cautions patients against off-brand GLP-1 compounds, warning that marketplace desperation is being exploited. 

“With any of these fad products, you’ll find individuals who see the opportunity to make a quick buck,” he said. “Currently, people are being marketed based on price. Probably the worst thing you can do when it comes to your health.” 

The severity of the violations at the Kirkland facility speaks for itself, he added. “You don’t get busted and closed down immediately by the state unless you are doing something that is very wrong.” 

On May 1, 2026, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a warning letter to a Chinese firm that highlights the potential dangers of off-brand GLP-1 drugs. The regulatory agency said Harbin Jixianglong Biotech failed an inspection of its manufacturing facility in the Liminzhen Hulan District. US inspectors found the company purchased semaglutide peptide – the primary ingredient in brand name drugs like Ozempic – from an unknown company and then rebranded it as its own product. The safety of the ingredients could not be determined, and some foreign labs have used research-grade peptides that are not for human consumption. The warning letter does not name the US pharmacies that Harbin Jixianglong Biotech shipped products to, but the company’s products are now barred from the United States pending further investigation.


“This inspection and warning…again raises concerns about the growing market of compounded GLP-1’s and the bad actors that put profit ahead of patient safety,” said Shabbir J. Imber Safdar, the Executive Director of Partnership for Safe Medicines, a non-profit that has been critical of ballooning market for the drugs and lack of government intervention.

Only name-brand GLP-1 drugs manufactured by pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk carry FDA approval. Mochi and a growing number of telehealth companies operate in what regulators describe as a legal gray area, selling compounded versions of those patented medications at a fraction of the cost. 

For millions of Americans like Tobi Ness — for whom the name-brand drugs are simply out of reach — that gray area may be the only option available.

This story is part of the KING 5 Investigators series $elling $kinny.