The Internet has changed many things and now it's become a marketplace for weight loss too, but medical experts warn that some online sales of weight loss supplements are questionable at best and possibly even dangerous.

Dr. Arden Blough, who heads The Broadway Clinic's Weight Loss for Life program in Oklahoma City, knows all too well the challenges of trying to lose weight.

"I have battled weight my entire life, so I truly understand what my patients are feeling when they first arrive at our clinic. But I also have experienced firsthand what losing just a little weight can mean for one's health," said Blough, who recently lost 30 pounds himself.

Blough has been very pleased with the weight loss success he's seen in Broadway Clinic patients utilizing Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) in conjunction with a very low calorie diet under a physician's supervision.

"I can't even name all the diets that I have tried," recounts Windell Main, who weighed 315-pounds and suffered two heart attacks before turning to a medically supervised weight-loss regimen centering around Opti-Lean, a sublingually-administered hCG (now also available in hCG tablets). He lost 120 pounds. "It literally saved my life."

An increase in internet sales and over-the-counter supplements, however, raises concerns over what Dr. Blough insists is an otherwise safe approach to rapid weight loss.

Although hCG is a naturally occurring hormone in the body and can be used by many seeking to lose weight, Blough stressed ensuring one's safety should always be paramount and that's why he believes hCG in weight loss should be medically supervised.

"There are issues that can arise when utilizing this sort of diet, especially when there are other diseases like diabetes or heart disease involved," Blough explained. "I really worry about those who are buying something over the Internet for several reasons. First, you don't know what you are getting. You may be throwing your money away because the product you get may not even have hCG in it. Or it could be contaminated. This is particularly a concern with products being sent from third world countries where there are no regulations or quality controls. And there is also the issue of your health. Above and beyond everything else what we do to achieve weight loss has to be safe, I mean who wants to be skinny and dead?"

At the Broadway Clinic, for example, an initial medical evaluation is a critical component of any weight loss program.

"We also are sure to purchase our hCG only from reputable U.S. pharmaceutical sources so that we are confident in the products that our patients are using," Blough said.

Patients are also seen regularly, which Blough believes is important for patient safety, but also allows for adjustments to the program and vital support to help ensure each patient's success.

"I can actually say it saved my life," says MaDonna McKeever, another patient who embarked on an hCG-centered weight-loss plan and lost 70 pounds in seven months at the Broadway Clinic.

Blough said shifting patients from the intensive hCG program to a maintenance program is also an important component of the Broadway Clinic's approach.

"It's weight loss for life. That's my motto and I really believe it," Blough added.