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BY STEVEN HSIEH


You're watching multisource sports video news analysis from Newsy. 


Two injured football stars – flying overseas for experimental, stem cell therapy.  But these Hail Mary procedures aren’t FDA approved – raising questions about the safety of both athletes’ decisions.

Colts’ quarterback Peyton Manning reportedly flew to Europe to test the treatment before his most recent surgery.  And wide receiver Terrell Owens is trying the procedure in Korea for a torn ACL.

Not to be confused with embryonic stem cell therapy, the doctors use the athletes’ own cells in these procedures.  WABC explains…

"Stem cells are harvested from a healthy part of your body, then injected into a problem area."

And a stem cell researcher says there’s no proof stem cell therapy works – adding, these desperate athletes might be doing more harm than good…

“When you leave a well-regulated environment, all bets are off… If hundreds of thousands of people go out and say, well, that was good enough for Mr. Manning.  Well, what about me?”

But a writer for Popular Science says:

“It’s evidence American stem cell therapy is still lagging. Researchers at Stanford started working with fat-derived iPS cells in 2009 — so why is a marquee NFL quarterback flying overseas for this therapy?”

And some media are noting that stem cell therapy is often used with Human Growth Hormone, which is banned in professional sports. The New York Daily News interviewed a doctor who says…

“It’s a dicey issue… When you’re dealing with pro athletes, you can’t use (HGH) in any capacity.  But with the regenerative type of medicine, I think that’s where the whole sports field may be going.”

A writer for NBC predicts – with or without HGH, the NFL won’t just ignore this medical trend…

“…with the league constantly revising the list of things players can and can’t do, don’t be surprised if non-U.S.-approved stem-cell therapy lands on the roster of NFL “thou shalt nots.”

Finally, media are assuming Manning’s stem cell treatment did not work, since he still underwent a third surgery.  But a doctor tells WISH – that might not be the case.

“It might be that something that’s going to take time.  It’s going to take weeks or month to have its
various effects, depending on what benefit was being attempted.”



Transcript by Newsy.