An 81-year-old matriarch of an advertising company in Utah vomited herself to death just days after having her annual checkup, according to her family.
Julia Reagan became famous in Salt Lake City last year after her husband Bill arranged for dozens of billboards to honor his wife of 58 years, who he claims died a horrible death due to medical negligence.
Bill Reagan, the owner of Reagan Outdoor Advertising, filed a lawsuit on Friday accusing University of Utah’s hospitals and clinics of causing his wife’s death by allowing vomit to get into her lungs.
The lawsuit states that Reagan’s health began to deteriorate two days after she returned home from Minnesota after a medical checkup conducted at a Mayo Clinic on June 8, as reported by The Salt Lake Tribune.
She reportedly felt ‘dehydrated and very drowsy’ before her husband Bill called for an EMT, who determined Reagan was stable and did not need to go to the emergency room.
On June 11, Reagan was taken to the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City by ambulance after vomiting twice.
Julia Reagan’s family claims she died when her vomit got into her lungs while at a Mayo clinic
Reagan became famous in Salt Lake City last year after her husband Bill arranged for dozens of billboards to honor his wife. Bill owns Reagan Outdoor Advertising
The couple were married for over 58 years and shared four children
Testing found that Reagan had a ‘mild’ collapse of her lungs and a ‘large fluid-filled, distended hiatal hernia and stomach,’ per the complaint.
Reagan was then put on an ‘aspiration watch’ list – an alert for staff to monitor her so that vomit does not get into her lungs.
A nurse wrote in Reagan’s order that she should be fully upright when eating or drinking and for a full 30 minutes after meals. Reagan was supposed to be inclined between 35 and 45 degrees at all other times.
Despite the instructions, the lawsuit claims Reagan was ‘not checked on sufficiently and was not kept in an elevated head position.’
As a result, the suit states, when she vomited, Reagan suffered a ‘catastrophic injury to her lungs and brain, leading to cardiac arrest and death.’
The suit names University of Utah’s hospitals and clinics as well as unnamed staffers as defendants.
Reagan died at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City
Reagan died after suffering a ‘catastrophic injury to her lungs and brain, leading to cardiac arrest and death’
‘As always, the safety and care of our patients is our priority. We don’t comment on specific patient cases or ongoing litigation,’ U hospitals said in a statement.
The suit seeks unspecified damages.
Bill Reagan told Fox 13 that he set up the billboards honoring his wife to honor their life together.
‘She was my love,’ Bill Reagan said as he teared up. ‘Our life together was this business. We had six or seven signs when we got married. We have 9000 now.’
