A California woman has been awarded more than $28 million by a jury that found that Kaiser Permanente doctors were negligent in delaying an MRI scan that could have detected an aggressive cancerous tumor.
According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, the delayed MRI exam caused 23-year-old Anna Rahm to lose her right leg, half of her pelvis, and part of her spine.
The article recounts Rahm's odyssey, which began in March 2009 when she visited a Kaiser Permanente office in Woodland Hills, CA, for severe lower back pain. Instead of granting her request for an MRI scan, doctors advised her to lose weight and sent her to a nutritionist and acupuncture therapist.
When an MRI was ordered three months later, the scan found a large, aggressive cancerous tumor in her pelvis. Doctors then removed her right leg, half of her pelvis, and part of her spine to eliminate the cancer.
Her attorney asserted that a timely MRI scan could have found the tumor, and Rahm's leg could have been saved. Kaiser argued that Rahm did not request the MRI in March 2009 and, because the tumor was so large and advanced, a scan would not have mattered.
Kaiser reportedly is considering its legal options, according to the article.
