Julia Reagan Lawsuit: Allegations, Damages, and Billboards

The Julia Reagan lawsuit is a wrongful death case filed in February 2025 by her husband, William “Bill” Reagan, against the University of Utah’s hospitals and clinics, alleging that medical negligence during her June 2024 hospitalization caused her to aspirate and die. The complaint, filed in Utah’s 3rd District Court, seeks damages exceeding $300,000 and remains pending.¹

What Happened at the Hospital

Julia Reagan had recently returned from a checkup at the Mayo Clinic when she began feeling unwell on June 10, 2024. She took a 7.5 mg dose of hydrocodone and became dehydrated and very drowsy. An EMT assessed her at home and found her stable.²

After a second emergency call the following day, she was admitted to the University of Utah Hospital’s emergency department with vomiting, drowsiness, and altered mental status. Tests revealed a mild lung collapse and a large, fluid-filled hiatal hernia and distended stomach. Staff identified her as an aspiration risk, meaning she was in danger of inhaling vomit into her lungs.³

Admission orders called for aspiration precautions, including keeping the head of her bed elevated at 35 to 45 degrees. The lawsuit alleges that nurses failed to maintain that elevation and left her flat, that doctors failed to drain the fluid from her enlarged stomach, and that staff did not check on her frequently enough overnight.⁴

Between 4:22 a.m. and 5:39 a.m. on June 12, 2024, Julia vomited multiple times. A code blue was called at approximately 5:39 a.m. The autopsy cited in the complaint identified the cause of death as sudden cardiorespiratory arrest after aspirating bilious vomit due to a small bowel obstruction from extensive abdominal adhesions. She was 81.³

What the Complaint Alleges

Bill Reagan filed the complaint on February 21, 2025, naming the University of Utah’s hospitals and clinics along with unnamed staff. It was prepared by attorneys Colin King and Walter Mason of the Salt Lake City firm Dewsnup King Olsen Worel Havas.⁵

The suit alleges four central failures:

Staff did not diagnose the underlying cause of Julia’s symptoms, which the medical examiner later identified as a small bowel obstruction caused by dense abdominal adhesions.
Doctors did not drain the fluid from her distended stomach and hiatal hernia, a step that would have reduced the aspiration risk.
Nurses did not maintain the ordered 35 to 45 degree head-of-bed elevation, leaving her lying flat.
Staff did not check on her sufficiently in the hours before her cardiac arrest.

The complaint characterizes these as breaches of the standard of care that directly caused Julia to aspirate, suffer catastrophic brain and lung injuries, go into cardiac arrest, and die.⁴

Damages and Utah’s Malpractice Rules

The suit seeks general and special damages exceeding $300,000, including compensation for Julia’s pain and suffering before death, wrongful death damages such as loss of companionship and society, medical and funeral expenses, lost income and household services, and attorney fees.³

Utah law requires anyone suing a health care provider for malpractice to go through a prelitigation review before filing in court. Under Utah Code § 78B-3-416, the claim goes to an informal panel of a lawyer, one or more health care providers with relevant expertise, and a lay member, which issues a nonbinding opinion on merit.⁶ The claimant must also file an affidavit of merit from a qualified health care provider stating that the standard of care was breached and that the breach caused the injury.⁷

The Reagan complaint notes that a certificate of compliance under Utah Code § 78B-3-418 was issued on February 10, 2025, eleven days before the lawsuit was filed, confirming that the mandatory prelitigation process was completed.⁴⁸

One factor that could shape the potential recovery is a 2015 Utah Supreme Court ruling. In Smith v. United States, the court held that the $450,000 cap on noneconomic damages in the Utah Health Care Malpractice Act is unconstitutional when applied to wrongful death cases, finding that Article XVI, Section 5 of the Utah Constitution forbids any statutory limit on the amount recoverable in actions for injuries resulting in death.⁹ That precedent was reaffirmed in 2024 in Meeks v. Peng, so there is no statutory ceiling on the noneconomic damages the Reagan family could recover if the case succeeds.¹⁰

Where the Case Stands

The lawsuit remains pending in Utah’s 3rd District Court. No rulings, trial dates, or settlement discussions have been publicly reported beyond the initial filing.¹¹ University of Utah Health has declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.³

How the Billboards Fit In

Julia Reagan’s face became widely recognized in Utah before the lawsuit was ever filed. Bill Reagan founded Reagan Outdoor Advertising in Salt Lake City in 1965; the company grew into the fifth-largest roadside billboard operator in the United States, with roughly 9,300 billboard faces across seven states.¹² Shortly after Julia’s death, he used the company’s inventory to put up more than 300 memorial billboards across Utah and several other states, featuring her photograph and the message: “In Loving Memory of Julia Reagan. Our Loving Wife, Mother, and Grandmother.”¹³

The tributes went viral, aided by a connection to Charli XCX’s “Brat Summer” and the “so Julia” lyric from her song “360.” Memes, tattoos, and online speculation followed.¹³ When the wrongful death case became public in early 2025, some observers reread the campaign as a way to build public awareness before litigation. Bill Reagan has said the billboards were intended in part to raise awareness about the malpractice claims.¹⁴

Reagan Outdoor Advertising removed the billboards at the end of June 2025 but committed to displaying updated versions each June to mark the anniversary of Julia’s death. As of May 2026, a billboard had already appeared near the company’s headquarters ahead of Memorial Day, with additional installations expected during June.¹¹¹⁵

1
The Salt Lake Tribune. Julia Reagan Memorialized in SLC
2
Billboard Insider. Lawsuit Filed Related to the Death of Julia Reagan
3
Yahoo News. Julia Reagan: Husband Sues University of Utah
4
DKOW. Reagan v. U of U Hospitals (Redacted Complaint)
5
DKOW. DKOW Files Lawsuit for the Wrongful Death of Julia Reagan
6
Utah Legislature. Utah Code § 78B-3-416
7
FindLaw. Utah Code § 78B-3-423
8
Utah Legislature. Utah Code § 78B-3-418
9
Justia. Smith v. United States, 2015 UT 68
10
vLex. Smith v. United States, 356 P.3d 1249
11
ABC4. Julia Reagan Billboards Returning
12
Billboard Insider. Company of the Day: Reagan Outdoor
13
City Cast Salt Lake. Julia Reagan: Salt Lake Utah Billboard Icon
14
Utah Stories. Julia Reagan Billboards Utah
15
Axios Salt Lake City. Julia Reagan Billboards 2026 Anniversary