A Utah family has been awarded nearly $1 billion in damages after a hospital’s mishandling of their baby’s delivery left 5-year-old Azaylee permanently disabled.
Court documents revealed that nurses raised concerns about the mother’s fever and the baby’s blood pressure, but the on-call doctor went back to sleep instead of intervening. Experts testified that Azaylee was deprived of oxygen too long, leading to catastrophic brain damage during an emergency C-section.
Born with a misshapen head, bruising, and swelling, Azaylee now suffers seizures, severe developmental delays, and requires 24-hour care. Doctors say she will never live independently. Her mother, Anyssa Zancanella, described the heartbreak: “I know that my daughter is in there, but she can’t come out.”
Judge Patrick Corum ruled Steward Health Care liable, awarding $951 million, though the bankrupt hospital chain may never pay in full. He condemned the hospital’s failures, noting Zancanella “would have been better off delivering in a gas station bathroom” than under the care of nurses who had just completed training that same day.
