Julia Reagan — the matriarch of a Utah outdoor advertising company who was memorialized on billboards across Salt Lake City last year — is now the subject of a wrongful death lawsuit.
Julia’s husband, Bill, filed the lawsuit Friday in Utah’s 3rd District Court, alleging medical negligence led to the death of his 81-year-old wife on June 12, 2024. The University of Utah’s hospitals and clinics, as well as unnamed staff members, are named as defendants.
In a statement Monday, a U. hospitals spokesperson said, “as always, the safety and care of our patients is our priority. We don’t comment on specific patient cases or ongoing litigation.”
According to the complaint, Julia Reagan’s problems started on June 10, 2024 — two days after the Reagans returned home to Salt Lake City from Minnesota, where Julia had her annual checkup at a Mayo Clinic.
On that date, the complaint said, Julia was feeling unwell, took a 7.5 mg dose of hydrocodone, and was “dehydrated and very drowsy.” Bill Reagan called for an EMT, who determined Julia was stable and didn’t need to go to the emergency room.
On June 11, the complaint says, Julia vomited in the morning, and again at about 2:30 p.m. that afternoon. Bill again called for an ambulance, and she arrived at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City at about 3:51 p.m.
Tests done there — including a chest x-ray and CT scans of her head and abdomen — found a “mild” collapse of Julia’s lungs, and a “large fluid-filled, distended hiatal hernia and stomach,” the complaint said.
She was put on an “aspiration watch” list, an alert for medical staff to monitor against the possibility that vomit could get into her lungs. A nurse wrote in her orders that, as a precaution, Julia should be fully upright when eating or drinking and for 30 minutes after meals — and inclined between 35 and 45 degrees at all other times, the complaint said.
The complaint alleges that Julia “was not checked on sufficiently and was not kept in an elevated head position.” She vomited at least once, possibly several times, between 4:22 a.m. and 5:39 a.m. on June 12 — and, the lawsuit alleges, that vomiting caused “catastrophic injury to her lungs and brain, leading to cardiac arrest and death.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
After Julia’s death, Bill Reagan arranged for dozens of Reagan Outdoor Advertising billboards to memorialize his wife of more than 58 years.
According to FOX 13, some 60 billboards around Salt Lake City carried her photo and name, with more posted across the country. Some remained up around the city as of Monday, still reading, “We Will Miss You.”
