SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — Opening statements began Thursday in the case of a Venice family suing Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital for hundreds of millions for alleged malpractice. The story of Maya Kowalski and her family is the focus of the Netflix documentary, "Take Care of Maya."
Lawyers representing both the Kowalski family and Johns Hopkins were in court to begin presenting their respective sides in this case. Maya was sitting in the courtroom.
The documentary, released back in June, details the family's harrowing experience and the tragedy that followed after Maya was taken away from her family amidst accusations of child abuse and Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
The details covered in the widely-circulated documentary made last week's jury selection unique. Rather than a courtroom full of prospective jurors, a more private selection process was taken in an effort to keep jury tainting to a minimum.
Maya Kowalski, seated one row in front of her father Jack, and brother Kyle, broke down in tears as the family's lawyer spoke about the events leading up to her mother's suicide.
"Staff were wrongfully accusing Beata and Jack Kowalski of child abuse, and alleging, and attempting to show that Maya had a mental disorder," said Greg Anderson, the Kowalski Family's Attorney.
"Maya Kowalski was falsely imprisoned and battered. She was denied communication with her family and the outside world and was told her mother was crazy by social workers. One in particular said that she would be her mother. She was put into a room for 42 hours with a commode out of reach because the hospital wanted to prove she could actually get up and walk," Anderson said.
"Beata was trying everything legal, social, every possible way to get her child out and her child wasn’t coming out and she found out through several sources the condition that Maya was in and what was happening to Maya," he added in the 90 minutes-long presentation during opening statements.
When counsel for the defendants took to the floor he laid out the scene for the jurors from the hospital's perspective.
"The evidence will show you that All Children's Hospital was not trying to imprison this young lady. We were trying to get her stabilized and transferred to somewhere where she could get the help she needed," said Howard Hunter, attorney for Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital.
"Ketamine is an anesthetic, it is a hallucinogen. It can create a dependency, it can cause depression or violent signs and if not monitored it can cause serious injury and life-endangering consequences," Hunter said.
"Mrs. Kowaslki wanted an Intrathecal pain pump placed in her daughter's spine to deliver a medication called clonidine, a powerful drug into her spinal canal and she was told it was a bad idea by the doctors at All Children's, and by the doctors at (inaudible) and indeed you are going to hear Dr. Kilpatrick tell her that's a bad idea," he said.
"You will hear that Dr. Smith was not an employee of All Children's Hospital and she was not there as a part of the employment team but she was there as a resource. You will see over time and we will talk about this in a minute, the investigation she conducted as part of her duties with DCF and the Child Protection Team," Hunter told jurors.
The Kowalski family's story began in October 2016. Maya's parents, Jack and Beata, drove from their home in Venice to the emergency room after their 10-year-old daughter was experiencing excruciating pain. They said the pain was from debilitating Complex Regional Pain Syndrome which Maya was receiving doses of ketamine as part of her medical treatment as recommended by specialists.
However, according to the family's lawsuit, hospital staff accused Beata Kowalski of child abuse and Munchausen syndrome by proxy. They said she had made the child's illness up and was overtreating her and shopping for doctors.
The lawsuit stated that the allegations were levied and court orders sought, despite support from various medical reports about Maya's diagnosis, physician-recommended treatments, and referrals.
Maya, now 17, was separated from her family for three months. During this time her mother took her own life, leaving behind notes — including ones for the judge and hospital staff — that expressed her despair and frustration.
In December 2021, Dr. Sallie Smith, who escalated an investigation of the report that triggered the family's ordeal, reached a $2.5 million settlement with the family. Smith was the former director of Pinellas County Department of Children and Family but was working with the group Suncoast Advocacy Services at the time.
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital provided the following statement last week following the start of jury selection:
"Our priority at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital is always the safety and privacy of our patients and their families. Therefore, we follow strict 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.
"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 to report suspected child abuse in order to protect the most vulnerable among us."
The malpractice lawsuit is expected to last for a couple of weeks. Maya Kowalski and her family are suing the hospital for $220 million, divided into $55 million in compensatory and $165 million in punitive damages.
10 Tampa Bay's Adaure Achumba contributed to this report.