A young San Fernando Valley woman won a $28.2 million lawsuit against Kaiser Permanente. The woman who lost her leg said on Thursday that the verdict will bring positive changes in the managed care giant and will encourage patients to learn about their treatment.

Anna Rahm, a 23-year-old Cal State Northridge student, said she is confident that this will bring change in health care reform. "However, I know that it takes so much advocacy and so much passion. We went into this with an initiative hoping that no matter the outcome, we wanted to get our story out there for everyone to be able to relate to and to learn from", she said.

A jury said in the verdict on Wednesday that Kaiser Permanente was culpable for the loss of right leg of Rahm in addition to half of her pelvis and parts of her spine. The loss could have been easily prevented if Kaiser Permanente had not mishandled her medical treatment.

Rahm was awarded with $28.2 million for future medical expenses, future loss of earnings, and pain and suffering. The verdict was announced after a four-week trial in Los Angeles Superior Court, according to her attorneys.

Kaiser said in a statement on Thursday night that it was evaluating the outcome of the case. The statement added that Kaiser understands the jury's findings and wants betterment of Ms. Rahm. It, however, said the medical care provided was found to be appropriate by highly respected medical experts and Kaiser will look forward to respond to this verdict in the best possible way.

Rahm's attorneys said that Kaiser Permanente was at fault because it unnecessarily refused to give her an MRI, which not only resulted in the loss of her leg, but was the case of a sheer medical negligence.