News

In December 2021, the Pfizer-BioNTech medication Paxlovid received emergency authorization as a treatment to prevent severe health problems from COVID-19 that could lead to hospitalization and death. But recently, small studies with less than a dozen people began to show up in the media linking the medication to a rebound in COVID-19 symptoms following recovery. On ...

A study of patients at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California showed that when both the delta and omicron variants were circulating in December 2021, patients who had SARS-CoV-2 infections with the omicron variant had substantially less risk of severe illness and shorter hospital stays than those infected with the delta variant. The study was published ...

A study published June 6, 2022,  in The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety showed that a comprehensive approach to improving colon cancer care at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California resulted in a 24% decrease in mortality over 7 years. “If a new drug or surgical procedure reduced deaths this dramatically, it would be ...

A new dedicated clinical research space at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center provides researchers and staff with expanded opportunities to bring groundbreaking clinical research to Kaiser Permanente Southern California members. Located on the first floor of 1505 N. Edgemont on the medical center campus, the 1,400-square-foot Kaiser Permanente Clinical Research Center at Los Angeles ...

William Towner, MD, FACP, FIDSA, is the regional physician director for the Division of Clinical Trials and leads the Clinician Investigator Program for the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. He also serves in a leadership role for HIV services at Kaiser Permanente Southern California. He was extensively involved in research on infectious diseases since 2000 ...

Research released in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine shows that a booster dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine provides strong protection, roughly 80% in the first few months against hospital admissions and emergency department visits caused by the delta and omicron variants. However, against omicron, this protection wanes over time for immunocompromised individuals — even after ...

A Kaiser Permanente study conducted in Southern and Northern California found hospitalizations for heart attack, stroke, and heart failure were 17% higher in the 5 days after the 2020 election than in the same 5 days 2 weeks before the election. The study was published April 20, 2022, in JAMA Network Open. “This study of the ...

Cheng-Wei “Charlie” Huang, MD, is a hospitalist at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center who has spent recent years also focused on research that can improve care for patients. In addition to his research and clinical duties, Dr. Huang is the assistant program director of the  Los Angeles Medical Center’s internal medicine residency, where ...