Struggling Kaiser Permanente opens $600M facility in CA; Physician treating prisoners asked to scale back hours;

> Kaiser Permanente opened a new state-of-the-art $600 million medical facility in Hollywood, CA earlier this week, while many competing providers are retreating, cutting back on staff and equipment expenditures. Still, Kaiser has had its own share of financial struggles. It posted a $794 million net loss last year attributed to investment hits. Article

> Thirty-seven states already have established drug repositories that provide safe, local access to medication for the uninsured and working poor. Oregon is one of a number of states considering adding this access to prescription drugs. Article

> Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have reintroduced The Caring for an Aging America Act that, if passed, would provide $130 million in federal funding over five years to attract and retain health care professionals and direct-care workers specializing in caring for Americans ages 65 and over. Article

> A physician who had been treating prisoners and overseeing quality of care of inmates in Michigan has been ordered to scale back his hours and staff. Dr. Robert Cohen was appointed by a U.S. District Court in Michigan to ensure that prisoners were receiving appropriate medical care following the allegedly wrongful death of a mentally ill inmate in 2006. Because the prison where the inmate has since closed down, the court said that the services of Cohen and his medical staff should be cut back. Article

And finally... The European Space Agency reports that a crew of six, led by four Russian-trained astronauts, are set to...pretend to go to Mars for 105 days. The crew will be isolated in a special facility in Moscow in preparation for the real thing. Why wasn't Stephen Colbert invited? Article

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