MS Patient Dies Of COVID-19 After Doctors Deny Her Vaccine, Family Claims

A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Kaiser Permanente after the health care provider allegedly restricted one of its clients in Orange County, California, from receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, resulting in the woman dying from the virus last month.

Nerissa Regnier, a 45-year-old realtor, died at a Kaiser Permanente hospital on Dec. 16, 2021, ABC 7 first reported.

The mother of three from Mission Viejo had multiple sclerosis and was taking new medication for her condition in February last year, which suppressed her immune system, according to Della Donna, an attorney for Regnier's family.

Regnier — described as being "very healthy" prior to her death — later inquired about getting jabbed with a COVID-19 vaccine, but she was told she could not have it because it contained a "live virus," Donna said. The lawyer said that this was false and that immunocompromised people like Regnier "need" the vaccine.

Regnier asked to be vaccinated seven times over the next six months but was told each time that she could not receive a "live" vaccine, the attorney said.

The mother ended up emailing her neurologist in August 2021 and asking him about the vaccines, and he told her that she "needed" to get inoculated.

Regnier then went to Kaiser Permanente to get a vaccine, but she tested positive for COVID-19. She was given antibiotics and steroids, both of which were harmful and not recommended to be used on her, according to Donna.

Additionally, the mother was denied monoclonal antibody treatment.

Regnier's husband, David Regnier, had her discharged from Kaiser Permanente's Irvine hospital, and she was moved to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, where she was told it was too late for monoclonal antibody treatment.

Regnier was stabilized at the hospital, but she was taken back to Kaiser, where she later died.

"This is a public service announcement. If you're told you shouldn't get the vaccine because it's a live vaccine that's just flat-out wrong. And everybody whose immune system is down needs to get the vaccine. That's why we're doing this. We don't want this poor woman's life to be taken in vain," Donna said in a press conference announcing the suit against the health care consortium.

It was unclear if the Regnier family's lawsuit was seeking damages.

In response to the lawsuit, Kaiser Permanent claimed in a statement that it "clearly communicated to our members, patients and the public that none of the available COVID-19 vaccines contain the live virus and that they are safe and effective."

"Kaiser Permanente has been consistent since vaccines first became available that we are committed to administering vaccines safely and equitably in accordance with all federal and state guidelines," the company said.

None of the COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the U.S. contains the live virus that causes COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.S. has reported a total of 73,423,879 coronavirus cases and 877,815 deaths as of Thursday, data provided by The New York Times showed.