Maya Kowalski testifies in alleged medical abuse case at center of 'Take Care of Maya' documentary
Maya Kowalski, the young woman at the center of an alleged child medical abuse case in Florida that drove her mother to suicide and inspired the Netflix documentary "Take Care of Maya," testified on Monday about her experience.
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
A Florida jury on Thursday awarded more than $200 million in damages to the family of Maya Kowalski, who alleged in a 2018 civil suit that the actions of staff at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital (JHAC) in St. Petersburg ultimately drove Maya's mother, Beata Kowalski, to suicide in 2017.
The jury found that JHAC had falsely imprisoned Maya, fraudulently billed her family and caused them severe emotional distress. The jury also determined that social worker Catherine Bedy had battered Maya, and Dr. Sally Smith had medically neglected Maya, who was ten years old when she was admitted to JHAC for a rare medical condition.
Maya cried and grasped a rosary in her hand as the jury's decision was read aloud in court.
Later on Thursday, the jury awarded a total $50 million in punitive damages to the Kowalski family.
Staff at JHAC suspected that Beata Kowalski was suffering Munchausen syndrome by proxy after she pushed for unapproved ketamine treatment for her daughter's condition. (WTVT)
Howard Hunter, an attorney from Hill Ward Henderson who represented JHAC in this case, thanked the jury for their "time and attention" in a statement to Fox News Digital. He added that JHAC plans to appeal the decision "based on clear and prejudicial errors throughout the trial and deliberate conduct by plaintiff’s counsel that misled the jury."
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"The evidence clearly showed that [JHAC] followed Florida’s mandatory reporting law in reporting suspected child abuse and, when those suspicions were confirmed by the district court, fully complied with Department of Children and Families (DCF) and court orders," Hunter said. "We are determined to defend the vitally important obligation of mandatory reporters to report suspected child abuse and protect the smallest and most vulnerable among us. The facts and the law remain on our side, and we will continue to defend the lifesaving and compassionate care provided to Maya Kowalski by the physicians, nurses and staff of Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and the responsibility of all mandatory reporters in Florida to speak up if they suspect child abuse."
Maya Kowalski's mother, Beata Kowalski, was accused of Munchausen by proxy after explaining her daughter's CRPS and treatment to hospital staff. (Netflix/'Take Care of Maya')
The case has made recent headlines after it inspired the popular documentary series "Take Care of Maya," which follows the story of Maya and Beata as they navigated Maya's rare, chronic neurological condition called complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) – an obscure condition that causes severe pain throughout a person's body due to nervous system dysfunction, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
In 2016, Maya was admitted to JHAC in St. Petersburg for severe pain caused by her CRPS, which was previously diagnosed by another Florida doctor.
Later that year, a court order removed Maya from the custody of her parents after staff accused Beata of medical abuse, saying that she exhibited signs of Munchausen by proxy — a form of medical abuse.
Maya Kowalski testified Monday in a Florida courtroom about her experience battling CRPS at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital. (homas Bender/Sarasota Herald-Tribune Pool Photo/Thomas Bender / USA TODAY NETWORK)
The Kowalskis' attorney, Greg Anderson, described JHAC as "a totally dysfunctional organization," adding that the "Kowalskis paid the price" for that dysfunction.
Beata hanged herself in her garage in January 2017 after being separate from her hospitalized daughter for months.
Multiple witnesses, including health care professionals at JHAC, maintained during the trial that Beata had been exhibiting signs of Munchausen by proxy and that Maya's perceived CRPS symptoms had been driven by her mother. Munchausen by proxy is a psychological disorder in which an abusive parent or caretaker makes up or causes an illness for a person under their care — often the parent's own child — who is not actually ill.
Netflix's "Take Care of Maya" follows the story of Maya Kowalski and her mother, Beata Kowalski — a registered nurse — as they navigate Maya's rare, chronic neurological condition called complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Maya and her family are now suing JHAC for causing undue harm — and pushing Beata to suicide — by reporting the mother for medical child abuse in 2015 and holding Maya involuntarily for more than 80 days. (Netflix/'Take Care of Maya')
"One of the most unfortunate parts of this case is the caption: Kowalskis v. All Children's. We were never against the Kowalski family," attorney Ethen Shapiro, who represented JHAC, said in his closing statements Tuesday. "The reason why All Children's did what it did, the reason why All Children's tried to comfort Maya, the reason why All Children's tried to get her on a safe medical path is because the loving and caring providers at my clients' hospital believed in a better future for her if they could get her off the unnecessary drugs given at dangerous levels."
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The defense also accused Beata of giving her daughter unsafe doses of ketamine. The hospital's defense team argued that the trial is representative of the responsibility that hospital staff have to report suspected child abuse to authorities.
Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick, who specializes in pain relief, initially diagnosed Maya with CRPS when she was nine years old and helped her get treatment for the illness, which included doses of ketamine to help dull her pain. (Netflix/'Take Care of Maya')
The Kowalski family alleged that the power of the large hospital system, combined with the power of the state, made them helpless in trying to get appropriate help for their daughter. And being separated caused severe emotional distress for both Maya and her mother, who hanged herself in their garage in January 2017 after going months without seeing Maya.
The Kowalskis also say the hospital billed their insurance company thousands of dollars for CRPS treatments despite the staff's claims that Maya did not have CRPS.
Maya's father sued JHAC and medical personnel assigned to his daughter's treatment in 2018, alleging that the hospital had falsely accused Beata of medically abusing Maya and failing to properly care for his daughter, causing his family emotional distress. (Thomas Bender/Sarasota Herald-Tribune Pool Photo/USA TODAY NETWORK)
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JHAC previously told Fox News Digital in a statement that the hospital's priority is "always the safety and privacy" of its "patients and their families."
"Therefore, we follow federal privacy laws that limit the amount of information we can release regarding any particular case. Our first responsibility is always to the child brought to us for care, and we are legally obligated to notify [DCF] when we detect signs of possible abuse or neglect," the hospital said. "It is DCF that investigates the situation and makes the ultimate decision about what course of action is in the best interest of the child."
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