Chad Billingsley Uses New Plasma Treatment: How Is This Not Cheating?

Chad Billingsley is the latest athlete to use the relatively new platelet rich plasma treatment to recover from injury, and though people might call it recovery assistance or whatever, I don't see how it's not cheating. The experimental treatment that was credited for healing the elbows of Takashi Saito and Claudio Vargas is being used to treat Billingsley's hamstring.Billingsley received an injection of platelet-rich plasma in his leg Saturday, which was why trainer Stan Conte thought he was able to make enough progress to throw a bullpen session Monday.Like Saito and Vargas, Billingsley had blood drawn and spun to isolate the platelets, which clot and promote healing.The platelets, 10 times more concentrated than in normal blood, were injected into the site of the injury.Torre said he remained hopeful that Billingsley can make his next scheduled start, against St. Louis on Monday at Dodger Stadium. Can somebody explain what makes this more acceptable than steroids or...