A St. Petersburg, Florida jury deliberated for sixteen hours over a period of three days after an eight-week trial before returning a verdict on November 9, 2023 for compensatory damages in the amount of $211,451,174, followed by an additional jury verdict in the amount of $50 million in punitive damages for extreme and outrageous conduct after less than one hour of deliberation, against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, for the false imprisonment of Maya Kowalski, battery of Maya Kowalski, fraudulent billing of Jack Kowalski, inflicting emotional distress on Beata Kowalski, the wrongful death claim of the estate of Beata Kowalski, and intentionally inflicting emotional distress on Maya Kowalski.
Maya Kowalski’s father, Jack Kowalski, had filed the lawsuit on behalf of his children, Maya and Kyle, and the estate of his wife Beata, who committed suicide in January 2017 after being accused of child abuse and being physically separated from Maya for over three months. The underlying circumstances were the subject of a Netflix documentary that aired in June 2023 entitled “Take Care of Maya.”
According to the lawsuit, Maya was admitted to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital (“JHACH”) in July 2015 for a severe asthma attack and then developed severe pain and weakness. She was diagnosed in September 2015 with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a broad term describing excess and prolonged pain and inflammation that can occur following an injury or other medical event such as surgery, trauma, stroke, or heart attack. Although CRPS can occur anywhere in the body, it usually affects an arm, leg, hand, or foot. CRPS is more common in females but can occur in anyone at any age, with a peak around age 40. It is rare in the elderly, who have less inflammation after injury, and in young children who heal so quickly and completely.
Maya was treated for CRPS with Ketamine infusion treatments, resulting in steady improvement in her symptoms.
In October 2016, when Maya was 10-years-old, she began to experience abdominal pain and vomiting for which she was brought to JHACH for treatment. Maya’s mother, Beata, requested that Maya be given Ketamine infusion treatments. The lawsuit alleged: “Upon information and belief, certain JHACH personnel, despite their unfamiliarity with treating CRPS and despite Dr. Hanna’s corroboration of Beata and Jack’s relaying of the recommended CRPS treatments, became offended and defensive by the suggestions given by the mother (a registered IV nurse) and father (a retired Chicago firefighter). Almost immediately, Defendants, and specifically Debra Hansen, a social worker employed by JHACH, reported Beata to the DCF Child Abuse Hotline, claiming that Beata was interfering with Maya’s treatment and there was a disagreement about dosages of Ketamine.”
The lawsuit alleged that despite DCF finding valid prescriptions for the dosages of Ketamine on file and JHACH being told to close the investigation, JHACH fought the parents’ effort to remove Maya from the hospital and brought in Dr. Sally Smith, who was introduced as a pediatrician but was, in fact, the hospital’s director of child abuse and was “improperly granted … access to Maya’s medical record in order to build a case of child abuse against the family.” The lawsuit alleged: “Upon information and belief, Dr. Smith directly and/or indirectly issued orders to JHACH physicians and staff, such as isolating Maya, covertly surveilling Maya by video for a period of approximately 48 hours, ordering a regime of physical therapy, issuing directions to wean Maya off pain medications, and placing restrictions on the Kowalskis’ visitation rights within JHACH.”
The lawsuit alleged that JHACH and its staff imprisoned Maya without legal justification and barred her family from visiting Maya: “The resulting prolonged separation from their suffering daughter manifested in Beata’s depression, fatigue, and overwhelming sense of hopelessness. … Despite specific and documented warning signs, JHACH and Dr. Smith continued a campaign of degradation and threats towards the Kowalskis, and specifically, Beata.”
Beata was accused of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. A psychological evaluation found that Beata suffered from no mental illness but Maya was nonetheless placed in state custody and remained in JHACH, separated from her family, for more than three months. Beata committed suicide in January 2017, at the age of 43. She wrote in an email discovered after her death: “I’m sorry but I no longer can take the pain being away from Maya and being treated like a criminal. I cannot watch my daughter suffer in pain and keep getting worse.”
JHACH issued a statement after it was found liable: “We thank the jury for their time and attention during this trial and intend to pursue an appeal based on clear and prejudicial errors throughout the trial and deliberate conduct by plaintiff’s counsel that misled the jury. The evidence clearly showed that Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital 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. 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.”
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