Utah Family Awarded Nearly $1 Billion in Record Malpractice Case Against Hospital Over Botched Baby Delivery
- Victor Nwoko
- 14 minutes ago
- 2 min read
A Utah judge has awarded a family nearly $1 billion in damages after ruling that catastrophic medical negligence during a baby girl’s delivery left her with lifelong disabilities. The judgment is the largest medical malpractice award in the state’s history.
Judge Patrick Corum ordered Steward Health Care to pay $951 million to parents Anyssa Zancanella and Danniel McMicheal and their 5-year-old daughter, Azaylee, following a trial earlier this month. The ruling found that staff at Jordan Valley Medical Center in West Valley City, Utah — then operated by Steward — failed to properly handle the newborn’s delivery on October 14, 2019.
Court documents reveal that the nurses overseeing Zancanella’s labor had only just completed training and administered dangerous doses of the drug Pitocin while the on-call physician slept nearby. Despite alarming warning signs, including elevated blood pressure and maternal fever, medical staff delayed intervention for over a day before performing an overdue C-section.
When Azaylee was finally delivered, she exhibited severe complications, including oxygen deprivation, facial swelling, and cranial trauma. She was airlifted to Primary Children’s Hospital’s intensive care unit in Salt Lake City and now suffers permanent brain damage, regular seizures, and profound developmental delays requiring 24-hour care.
Judge Corum condemned the hospital’s handling of the birth in his ruling, stating: “This was the most dangerous place on the planet for her to have given birth. The person [Azaylee] was to be, the person she deserved to be, is trapped inside a brain-damaged child. I cannot think of anything more profound, total or complete than that loss.”
The family’s lawsuit, filed in 2021, described how Azaylee’s condition forces her to live with near-constant seizures, limited verbal abilities, and restricted cognitive function. She requires daily physical and occupational therapy and can only attend kindergarten for a few hours each day. Her parents say she will likely never drive, attend college, or work independently.
The girl’s seizures are so frequent that the family sleeps together in one bed to monitor her at night, traveling with oxygen tanks at all times. They are also preparing to acquire a service dog to help detect seizures.
Zancanella told the court: “She is trapped. I know my daughter is in there, but she can’t come out, and I think of that every day. Azaylee had her life stolen. We all did.”
Although the ruling awarded $951 million in damages, the family’s attorneys acknowledged the difficulty of collecting the full amount since Steward Health Care is currently in bankruptcy, owing billions to creditors. They hope to recover at least punitive damages, which make up roughly half of the award.
The hospital was rebranded as Holy Cross Hospital–West Valley in 2022 after being acquired by CommonSpirit Health. Steward Health Care, the nurses, and the doctors involved in the case did not respond to requests for comment.
