Unvaccinated COVID-19 patient accused Texas hospital of denying her food, water. Here's what we know

The former patient, Gail Seiler, aired the allegations during a roundtable discussion hosted by Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson. Published Nov. 8, 2026 The claim that a Texas hospital attempted to kill a COVID-19 patient after learning she was unvaccinated is unproven. The rumor stems from the account of the patient, Gail Seiler, who is an anti-vaccination advocate. Seiler claimed in multiple interviews that she was abused and mistreated by the staff at Medical City Plano hospital, and alleged that they tried to kill her. We are unable to independently verify this without other primary evidence. Citing privacy laws, Medical City Plano declined to speak about Seiler's case, but it rejected "any suggestion that our hospital or its caregivers would intentionally harm a patient or withhold medically necessary care." Snopes will update this report if additional information surfaces. We have reached out to Seiler and are waiting for her response. On Sept. 28, U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., held a roundtable discussion with former patients, hospital staff and families, detailing alleged mistreatment they experienced from "rigid hospital protocols" during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people online shared the statement of one former patient, claiming a Texas hospital tried to kill her by denying her food and water, among other forms of mistreatment. The clip, shared on Facebook and X (archived), showed Gail Seiler, a former COVID-19 patient, claiming she was mistreated and abused after hospital staff learned she was unvaccinated. One post stated: "A Texas hospital allegedly tried to kill unvaccinated patient Gail Seiler by starving her for 12 days, denying her water for 7 days, and telling her husband she was going to die." In a recorded statement at Johnson's panel, Seiler described her 2021 stay at Medical City Plano hospital. She said she was denied food for 12 days and water for seven days, and that staff treated her as though her death was inevitable after finding out she was unvaccinated. In a separate interview from 2025, she accused the hospital staff of trying to kill her. Because the allegation is based solely on Seiler's account and we do not have other primary evidence, we leave this claim unrated. The hospital sent us the following statement over email: Federal patient privacy laws prevent us from discussing or disclosing information about an individual's medical care or even confirming if someone was a patient. However, we strongly reject any suggestion that our hospital or its caregivers would intentionally harm a patient or withhold medically necessary care. Such characterizations are fundamentally inconsistent with our mission, our clinical standards and the dedication of the physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals who care for our patients. Snopes also reached out to Seiler to learn more and will update this article accordingly. During the September panel, Seiler and her husband shared the following testimony about her December 2021 visit to Medical City Plano, when she was hospitalized with COVID-19 (emphasis ours): What I experienced [at the hospital] changed my life forever and exposed me to a system that abandoned individual patient care in favor of rigid protocols, coercion, isolation, and fear. When the hospitalist in the ICU learned that I was unvaccinated, he looked directly at me and said, "I'm so sorry, Mrs. Seiler, but you're going to die." From that moment forward, I was treated as if my death was expected and inevitable. When I was in the ER, the emergency room, the doctor and primary-care nurse said that they follow the FLCCC protocol [a nonstandard protocol developed by a fringe doctors' group that has dubious efficacy against COVID-19]. Once they discovered my vaccination status, however, my options became limited to remdesivir and a ventilator. I repeatedly requested treatments such as ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, budesonide, zinc, vitamin C and other early interventions, but those requests were denied. Instead, I faced aggressive pressure to take remdesivir, escalating oxygen protocols, and repeated pressure toward ventilation, even though I remained alert and did not require intubation. I refused sedatives and pain medications because I feared losing consciousness and the ability to advocate for myself. I was isolated from my family despite Texas legislation prohibiting these practices. I was denied access to my Catholic priest and my sacraments unless I received remdesivir. Believing I might die, I submitted to one round so that I could receive extreme unction. After my priest left, I refused any further doses. During my hospitalization, I was denied food for 12 days, water for seven days. I was left naked and uncovered for extended period of time while staff observed me through the ICU windows instead of entering my room. I was designated a DNR or "do not resuscitate." That was against my wishes. I experienced physical, verbal and psychological abuse at the hands of some of the nurses because I was not vaccinated. My family was repeatedly told that I was unsavable and needed to be allowed to die. My husband, Brad "Huckleberry" Seiler, a former ER nurse and former Army captain, became incredibly, increasingly alarmed by my condition. He believed the oxygen protocols were excessive and that the hospital's actions were accelerating my decline rather than helping me recover. After I had been hospitalized for 12 days, Brad entered the ICU on Dec. 15, intending to get me out of the hospital and take me home. He was able to enter because the security guard was away from his desk and the ICU doors were standing wide open. Security and nurses followed him in demanding he leave, but Brad refused to leave without me. The hospital called the police in, resulting in a six-hour standoff as officers tried to persuade him to leave. The day prior, my husband asked the police to perform a welfare check, and I had told the responding officer about the abuse and neglect I had experienced. He told me that they did not have a protocol for that, and he left me there. With the intervention of Col. Allen West and … Texas Sen. Bob Hall and our attorney, we were finally allowed to leave the hospital. Doctors insisted that my lungs were permanently damaged and that I would not survive outside their care. They were wrong. With the help of Dr. Richard Bartlett, my husband and my daughter, they cared for me at home using treatments that the hospital had previously refused me, and I fully recovered. Footage of her testimony is available on YouTube and X: In 2025, Seiler described the same experience in more depth during a video interview hosted by Betrayal Project USA — a nonprofit group led by Seiler — who, before her hospitalization had protested vaccine mandates — to "defend medical freedom." She described taking offense at being asked by a doctor whether she was vaccinated: "As if that had something to do with the treatment." She also said she was not going to take the vaccine — which she called a "clot shot," referring to the debunked conspiracy theory that the COVID-19 vaccine caused blood clots. She said that after the hospitalist allegedly told her she was going to die, "I knew that they were going to kill me or they were going to try to kill me." It is unclear whether Seiler pursued legal action against the hospital. A search of Texas court records found no such lawsuits. Johnson, the senator who hosted the September roundtable, has spread anti-vaccine misinformation, including falsely claiming thousands of deaths are connected to the COVID-19 vaccine, saying thathe was "sticking up for people who choose not to get vaccinated." Snopes has previously debunked numerous claims about COVID-19 vaccines, including that the AstraZeneca vaccine causes blood clots and that countries' vaccination rates corresponded with their excess death rates. Sources Evon, Dan. "Does AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine Cause Blood Clots?" Snopes, 16 Mar. 2021, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/astrazeneca-vaccine-blood-clots/. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026."Fact-Checking Sen. Ron Johnson's Anti-Vaccine Misinformation ." CNN, 10 May 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/07/politics/ron-johnson-vaccine-misinformation-fact-check/index. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026."Gail Seiler." Betrayal Project, https://betrayalprojectusa.org/gail-seiler/. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.MD, Mary Talley Bowden, and Betrayal Project USA. "The Day a Husband Stormed an ICU: A True Story of Courage, Betrayal, and Survival." Substack newsletter. Dangerous Misinformation, 20 Nov. 2025, https://drbowden.substack.com/p/the-day-a-husband-stormed-an-icu. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.Szalinski, Christina. "Fringe Doctors' Groups Promote Ivermectin for COVID despite a Lack of Evidence." Scientific American, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fringe-doctors-groups-promote-ivermectin-for-covid-despite-a-lack-of-evidence/. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026.***VIDEO RELEASE*** Sen. Johnson's Full Roundtable Discussion: COVID-19 Hospital Protocols: Real Stories from Real People. 28 Sept. 2026, https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/2026/09/30/video-release-sen-johnsons-full-roundtable-discussion-covid-19-hospital-protocols-real-stories-from-real-people/. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.Winter, Emery. "10 COVID-19 Vaccine Claims We've Investigated during Trump's 2nd Term." Snopes, 22 Aug. 2026, https://www.snopes.com//collections/covid-19-vaccine-trump-2nd-term/. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026. By Nur Ibrahim Nur Nasreen Ibrahim is a reporter with experience working in television, international news coverage, fact checking, and creative writing. Article Tags