Researchers study young cancer survivors and their opioid use.
Young cancer survivors were more likely to be on long-term opioid therapy when compared to their counterparts without cancer. But among those on long-term opioid therapy, young cancer survivors were less likely to develop opioid use disorder than their peers without cancer, according to Kaiser Permanente ...
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Algorithm improves MS treatment while reducing disparities
A novel treatment algorithm developed and implemented within Kaiser Permanente Southern California increased the use of effective medications for people with multiple sclerosis (MS), and reduced treatment ...
Five questions for … Dr. Navdeep Sangha
Navdeep S. Sangha, MD, is a vascular neurologist and co-assistant chief of Neurology at the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. He is the director of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California ...
Clinical trials nurse brings skill and compassion to patients in San Diego
*Final in a series highlighting research nurses during Nurses Week 2025* Michael Fechter, LVN, was an emergency medical technician, working to become a paramedic and firefighter. On one emergency call, ...
Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness wanes over time
October 4, 2021A recent study led by Kaiser Permanente found the Pfizer-BioNTech, BNT162b2, mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective against hospitalization for 6 months after full vaccination, even in the face of widespread transmission of the delta variant. The study was published in The Lancet. (An earlier draft of the study was previously posted on The Lancet ...Read more...5 questions for … Dr. Sarah Carter
September 15, 2021Sarah Carter, DPhil, MA, is a postdoctoral research fellow at Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s Department of Research & Evaluation. She completed her doctoral work at the University of Southampton in England, where she studied childbirth intervention in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS). She is currently studying pre- and perinatal maternal health, environmental exposures, ...Read more...Vulnerable populations sought virtual care during pandemic
September 13, 2021Kaiser Permanente Southern California patients who were Latinx or low-income had the largest percentage increase in use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Kaiser Permanente research recently published in Journal of Medical Internet Research. Increases in telehealth visits during the COVID-19 pandemic varied across age, sex, race/ethnicity, and household income groups, while decreases in ...Read more...Infant lung disease rates drop dramatically over 10-year effort
September 1, 2021Over the last decade, rates of a chronic lung condition known as bronchopulmonary dysplasia have dropped from 20% to less than 2% among very preterm babies at Kaiser Permanente Panorama City. As reported in JAMA Network Open, this decrease is associated with a novel system of care designed by Kaiser Permanente Southern California researchers. Meanwhile, the ...Read more...Young children gained weight during the pandemic
August 27, 2021A Kaiser Permanente study of nearly 200,000 children showed that children gained excess weight during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those between 5 and 11 years old. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. “When we compared the weight gain among children from 2019 to 2020, we found that there was more ...Read more...5 questions for … Dr. Darryl Palmer-Toy
August 26, 2021Darryl Palmer-Toy, MD, PhD, is the physician director of the Regional Reference Core Laboratories for Kaiser Permanente Southern California. He has been in this position for 5 years. In this role, Dr. Palmer-Toy oversees the ancillary, clinical chemistry, and immunochemistry departments, which perform about 20 million tests per year. A student of proteomics (the study ...Read more...Bariatric surgery associated with better health for mothers
August 13, 2021A study of more than 20,000 Kaiser Permanente members in Southern California showed that women with obesity who underwent bariatric surgery prior to pregnancy experienced improved outcomes such as a reduced risk of serious pregnancy-related blood pressure conditions, and lower instances of a newborn needing to be sent to the neonatal intensive care unit, or ...Read more...Risk of severe COVID-19 higher for patients who recently needed asthma care
August 10, 2021A study of Kaiser Permanente Southern California members diagnosed with COVID-19 found that patients who needed clinical visits for asthma care in the 12 months prior to infection faced a higher risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes than patients who did not have asthma. Of patients who had recent asthma-related visits, those who also received medications for ...Read more...5 questions for … Dr. Sonya Negriff
August 10, 2021Sonya Negriff, PhD, is a developmental psychologist with expertise in the effects of child maltreatment on physical and mental health. She has been with the Department of Research & Evaluation for 3 years. Dr. Negriff examines the pathways linking child maltreatment to negative outcomes such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use, obesity, and sexual ...Read more...Where you live may affect your long-term survival after heart attack
August 2, 2021A study of more than 31,000 Kaiser Permanente members in Southern California showed that Black patients from disadvantaged neighborhoods were significantly more likely to die within 5 years of surviving a heart attack than white patients. In contrast, there was no difference in rates of death between white patients and Black patients who lived in ...Read more...