SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — It’s a case that caught the attention of millions of viewers through the Netflix documentary “Take Care of Maya.”
A civil trial involving allegations against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital is underway in Sarasota County.
On Thursday, a jury heard opening statements from attorneys for both the Kowalski family and the hospital.
Jack Kowalski, for himself and on behalf of his children, including Maya, and his late wife, Beata, is suing Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.
According to court documents, in 2015, a doctor diagnosed Maya with “Complex Regional Pain Syndrome” and gave her ketamine infusion treatments.
The court records say in 2016, Maya was taken to All Children’s, where it says Beata explained Maya’s condition and that the family relayed what they said were “appropriate dosages of pain medications.”
In court Thursday, Howard Hunter, who is representing All Children’s, said this was a big dose and levels staff had never heard of.
“They put her in a safe environment, they attempted to get her stabilized, they called the correct consultations, and they tried to investigate what was going on. We will suggest to you, the evidence will suggest, and the experts will say that that was a perfectly reasonable thing to do,” said Hunter. “There’s no conspiracy here. It was an effort to safeguard this child and to see that she got appropriate therapy going forward, whatever that happened to be.”
Court documents go on to say the defendants reported Beata to the DCF child abuse hotline and later say that the hospital notified the family that they would not be allowed to leave with Maya.
“There’s no evidence anywhere that Maya Kowalski was ever in any danger, Maya Kowalski ever suffered any negative effect whatsoever,” said Gregory Anderson, an attorney for the Kowalski family.
The nearly 100-page document states that Beata suffered “multiple discernable physical injuries, up to and including her suicide, each caused by the psychological trauma inflicted by the Defendants’ abhorrent actions.”
“We had no reason to wish this family harm, and we still don’t. Indeed, there’s a tragic outcome in this case, in terms of Mrs. Kowalski’s suicide, and we regret very much that that happened,” said Hunter. “The issue here, however, is who’s responsible for it, and we’re going to go over the facts of that and what the facts don’t show in terms of any connection between what was done by All Children’s and that tragic result.”
ABC Action News legal analyst Jeffrey Swartz provided more insight on the case.
“What they’re going to really be looking at is what type of mental condition was the mother in, Beata, what condition she was in at the time that all of this began. They’ll also have to dismiss the hospital’s claims that they were right and DCF was wrong,” said Swartz. “As far as the plaintiff is concerned, they’re going to have to see the panoply of everything that’s presented to them and one of the key witnesses may be Maya herself.”
The judge said they’re going to start evidence presentations on Friday.
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital provided the following statement.
"Our priority at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital is always the safety and privacy of our patients and their families, and we are vigorously defending against the false allegations made in the suit. Our first responsibility is always to the child brought to us for care, and we stand behind our staff’s compassionate care.
Our staff are required by law to notify Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) if they suspect abuse or neglect. It is DCF and a judge – not Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital – that investigates the situation and makes the ultimate decision about what course of action is in the best interest of the child.
We are determined to prevent any chilling effect on the obligation of mandatory reporters, including teachers, first responders, and healthcare workers, to report suspected child abuse in order to protect the most vulnerable among us.
We follow strict federal privacy laws that limit the amount of information we can release regarding any particular case, but we look forward to demonstrating to the Court and jury that all of the appropriate and legally required processes were followed by our staff."
