This week, a Florida judge heard a moving testimony from the woman at the center of a chilling medical abuse case that led to her mother’s s*uicide and was the subject of a Netflix documentary.
In 2016, Maya Kowalski, then ten years old, was admitted to the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg for treatment due to excruciating pain.
After a week, the doctors determined that her mother was using Munchausen syndrome as a proxy to incite the illness, and her symptoms were not real.
As in Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s case, the disorder causes caregivers to fabricate a child’s illness in order to elicit sympathy and concern from others.
Employees at the hospital notified Florida Child Welfare, who subsequently prohibited her mother from seeing her daughter.
Maya, who is now 17 years old, testified in court this week that she never saw her again after she told her, “I love you and I’ll see you tomorrow,” according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Ultimately, the case was the focus of the earlier this year Netflix documentary “Take Care of Maya.”
In January 2017, three months after being denied access to her child, Beata Kowalski, the mother, committed su*icide in the family garage.
Kowalski and her family are currently suing the hospital for $220 million, claiming that her mother’s sui*cide was caused by the hospital’s actions.
According to the lawsuit, Maya had complex regional pain syndrome, a rare neurological ailment, which is a real illness.
Skin lesions and intermittent bouts of excruciating limb pain are among the symptoms.
According to her family, Maya’s condition also resulted in a neurological reaction that turned her feet inward during flare-ups.
A registered nurse named Beata Kowalski informed the hospital about her daughter’s condition and insisted on giving her ketamine shots to relieve her symptoms.
According to Maya’s mother, the controlled medication that had been prescribed by a previous doctor had helped her symptoms.
However, dubious hospital employees expressed worry about the requests, claiming the strategy did not follow accepted medical procedures.
Consequently, a judge placed Maya under state protective custody, separating her from her distressed mother for almost three months while the abuse claims were looked into.
Beata Kowalski committed su*icide following an alleged 87-day separation from her child.
This week, Maya testified that she woke up at around two in the morning without knowing about the su*icide.
She recalled, “I was crying, saying, ‘I miss my mom, I love my mom.'” “I felt that way. I sensed it.
Hospital lawyers have argued that a previous court decision validated their concerns about child abuse.
A request for special jury instructions dated September 12 states, “This Court has determined that Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital reported suspected child abuse of Maya Kowalski in good faith,” as reported by the Tampa Bay Times.
“There is no way to hold Catherine Bedy or Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital legally accountable for filing that report.”
In 2018, Maya’s father, Jack Kowalski, filed a $220 million lawsuit against the hospital, claiming that Maya’s mother was wrongfully separated from her.
He is claiming emotional distress, medical malpractice, and false imprisonment.
Maya Kowalski, who claimed she is still affected by her illness, claimed the medical staff in the St. Petersburg facility mostly disregarded her pain complaints.
She stated on the stand that while she was still in the hospital, she received $20 for her eleventh birthday, which she used to purchase her mother a necklace.
Subsequently, she discovered that the jewelry was on her when she committed sui*cide.
Kowalski broke down in tears as she disclosed that she had worn it throughout her testimony, causing several jurors to cry as well.
The case is still unsolved.
