"My appetite came back like a roaring lion."

South Florida's latest weight-loss craze and the booming business it's spawned are based on a pricey hormone that many doctors say is useless as a diet aid and may carry serious health risks.

The U.S. government has refused for decades to approve the substance known as HCG for weight loss, and two states ban its prescription for that purpose. But a Sun Sentinel investigation found South Florida clinics charging hundreds of dollars for diet plans that employ the hormone produced by pregnant women, and facing virtually no regulation, inspection or oversight.

Read more at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.