Platelets

Scientific and political controversies have coincided in Sacramento to postpone, and perhaps kill, legislation to extend the use of paid donors of blood platelets, which are small cells used in several types of surgery. The subject is too serious to dismiss in this way. The problem is complex. Platelets are in short supply. The Red Cross Blood Bank serving Los Angeles and Orange counties estimates the demand at 40,000 units a year.

Determining the best filler for your facial needs is challenging, with more than a dozen brand-name options available to consumers. Some fillers are more effective on different areas of the face, and the number of treatments needed depends on the state of the skin. Superficial lines will respond well to one treatment, while deeper wrinkles may require multiple visits. Here is a quick look at six different types: Blood-based What is it: This filler, which goes by the brand name Sephyl, uses the patient's own blood as a filler by centrifuging the blood to collect fibrin (a protein that helps blood clot)

Kevin Sharer has a thing for maverick war heroes. In his sunlit office in Thousand Oaks, a massive portrait of the often-flamboyant Gen. George Armstrong Custer hangs across from his desk. It complements one of English naval great Horatio Nelson, renowned for defying orders. Sharer has a military background himself, gained as an engineer on fast-attack Navy nuclear submarines during the Cold War. These days, at troubled Amgen Inc., he's emulating his risk-taking heroes more than ever.

Amgen Inc., the Thousand Oaks biotechnology giant, agreed to jointly develop a treatment for cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy with Japanese beer company Kirin Brewery Co. Amgen and Kirin, which has a pharmaceutical division, are longtime research and marketing partners for Amgen's two blockbuster drugs, Epogen and Neupogen.

The state Senate gave final legislative approval Friday to a bill to continue allowing the sale of a special blood product from paid donors, a law that would benefit a Sherman Oaks firm with ties to co-sponsor Assemblyman Tom Bane. The legislation, approved unanimously without discussion, would renew for three years an exemption from a state law that bans the sale of blood products from paid donors. HemaCare Corp.

The Los Angeles area is experiencing a critical blood shortage, which has diminished the supply of types B and O blood throughout Southern California, the American Red Cross said this week. The supply of both O positive and O negative blood and blood platelets has reached crisis levels, said Rich Krieg, of the Red Cross Blood Services Southern California Region. In addition to type B blood, there is a particular need for type O blood. Information: (800) GIVE-LIFE.

Richard Donoghue, interim superintendent for the Orange Unified School District, was listed in critical condition Thursday at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles following a liver transplant earlier in the week. District officials said Donoghue underwent the eight-hour operation Wednesday after tests revealed that his liver was not producing sufficient platelets to allow his blood to clot naturally.

At least 24 people, most of them children, have been infected with E. coli bacteria, and the outbreak might be connected to a petting zoo at last month's state fair, authorities said in Raleigh. At least three of those stricken have developed a severe complication known as hemolytic-uremic syndrome, in which the number of blood platelets suddenly drops, red blood cells are destroyed and the kidneys shut down. The syndrome can be life-threatening or cause permanent kidney damage.

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration on Friday warned physicians to consider alternatives to the popular arthritis drug Celebrex because of new evidence that, like the similar drug Vioxx, removed from the market in September, it doubles the chances of heart attacks and strokes. The federal agency said it may soon take other actions, including requiring stronger warnings, or even blocking the drug from sale. The statements call into question the future of the widely used class of painkilling drug called Cox-2 inhibitors.