Netflix viewers were left distraught after watching the harrowing documentary Take Care of Maya about the ordeal of the Kowalski family.
Maya Kowalski, now 17, was placed into state custody for three months after doctors accused her parents of faking symptoms of her debilitating complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) at the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St Petersburg, Florida.
Hospital staff wrongly accused Maya’s mother Beata of Munchausen by proxy (MSP) – a mental illness and a form of child abuse in which the caretaker of a child, most often a mother, either makes up fake symptoms or causes real symptoms to make it look like the child is sick.
After being separated from her daughter for more than 87 days and a court order which denied her access to her child, Beata took her own life – a tragedy that continues to haunt the Kowalskis. The family from Florida detailed the harrowing experience in a damning new Netflix documentary that was released June 19, which raises criticism of the hospital for how they handled Maya’s case.
The family is now suing the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital seeking $55 million in compensatory and $165 million in punitive damages. A trial date has been set for September.
Viewers were left horrified after watching the ‘gut-wrenching’ documentary and shared their outrage on social media, with one tweet liked more than 2,000 times saying: ‘Just finished watching Take Care of Maya and I’m emotionally exhausted. Had to be one of the most gut-wrenching documentaries I’ve ever seen.
Maya Kowalski, now 17, was placed into state custody for three months after doctors accused her parents of faking symptoms of her debilitating complex regional pain syndrome (CPRS)
Hospital staff wrongly accused Maya’s mother Beata (second from right) of Munchausen by proxy (MSP) – a mental illness and a form of child abuse in which the caretaker of a child, most often a mother, either makes up fake symptoms or causes real symptoms to make it look like the child is sick
‘Shame on the hospital, court system and all those that stood by complicit while this injustice was happening.’
Another agreed and added: ‘If a 100-minute experience can shatter you so completely, I can’t imagine what it must be like to live with the injustice every day.’
People agreed the ordeal the Kowalskis had to go through was ‘shocking’ and ‘heart-breaking’. One user said: ‘I have never in my life had to stop a documentary so many times, just to compose myself and wipe the tears away.
‘How is this happening in a ‘first world country’? Take Care of Maya just destroyed me, I am shook to my core.’
Another viewer tweeted: ‘The Netflix documentary Take Care of Maya is heartbreaking, terrifying and enraging. Don’t miss it.’
After she started the programme, a woman named Nicole said hearing ‘You have the audacity to ask me why I’m afraid of hospitals? You traumatised me’ immediately made her cry and another shared her feelings, saying she was bawling.
Beata was also formally evaluated and diagnosed with a depressive mood and adjustment disorder upon being separated from her daughter
The documentary shows how the ordeal started when Maya was nine, and she began suffering from excruciating headaches, asthma attacks and painful lesions that formed on her arms and legs, as well as cramping and curling sensations in her feet
The documentary shows how the ordeal started when Maya was nine, and she began suffering from excruciating headaches, asthma attacks and painful lesions that formed on her arms and legs, as well as cramping and curling sensations in her feet.
When doctors at a local hospital were baffled with her medical condition Maya’s parents started doing research on their own.
Maya’s mom, a registered nurse, discovered that her daughter may have the condition CPRS and after visiting a specialist, this was confirmed.
Dr Anthony Kirkpatrick, an anesthesiologist and pharmacologist in Tampa who specializes in CRPS, gave Maya the anesthetic drug ketamine through infusions.
He then recommended a more aggressive treatment, described as a ‘ketamine coma’ – where the patient receives five days of treatment to essentially ‘reset’ the nervous system.
The procedure, still experimental, had not yet been approved by the FDA so Maya and her family traveled to Mexico in 2015 – despite knowing the risks involved.
The teenager said she felt ‘amazing’ after the procedure and continued to receive ketamine infusions to manage flare ups as the specialist said there was no cure for the disorder.
Less than a year after the experimental treatment, Maya was rushed to the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St Petersburg, Florida with excruciating stomach pain.
Maya’s parents told the medical team treating her that she had CRPS and needed high doses of ketamine – which they believed was the only way to help alleviate their daughter’s crippling pain.
Hospital staff reportedly alerted protective services who later accused Beata of child abuse due to MSP.
Child Services’ Dr Sally Smith, who has since retired, was regarded as some what of a ‘doyenne in her field’ and was formally asked to investigate Maya’s case after Beata was deemed to have ‘mental issues.’
At the time, its been claimed that Smith was removing children from their homes at one of the highest rates of Florida’s counties, according to the documentary.
Dr Anthony Kirkpatrick, who first diagnosed Maya with CRPS, confirmed her diagnosis to Smith in her initial investigation.
He also formally warned that a child abuse case would cause ‘needless and permanent harm to the child and family,’ according to The Cut.
However, Smith filed the case without including Kirkpatrick’s warnings.
After Maya’s symptoms did not improve her Munchausen’s by proxy diagnosis was withdrawn. Smith and other doctors began to believe she was entirely fabricating her symptoms.
Beata was also formally evaluated and diagnosed with a depressive mood and adjustment disorder upon being separated from her daughter.
AndersonGlenn LLP has launched a lawsuit against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and a trial date has been set for September with the Kowalski family seeking $55 million in compensatory and $165 million in punitive damages.
After the CPRS was confirmed Dr Anthony Kirkpatrick, an anesthesiologist and pharmacologist in Tampa who specializes in CRPS, gave Maya the anesthetic drug ketamine through infusions
AndersonGlenn LLP has launched a lawsuit against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and a trial date has been set for September with the Kowalski family seeking $55 million in compensatory and $165 million in punitive damages
Child Services’ Dr Sally Smith, who has since retired, was regarded as some what of a ‘doyenne in her field’ and was formally asked to investigate Maya’s case after Beata was deemed to have ‘mental issues’
Maya’s mom, a registered nurse, discovered that her daughter may have the condition CPRS and after visiting a specialist, this was confirmed
Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick, who first diagnosed Maya with CRPS, confirmed her diagnosis to Smith in her initial investigation
Since the documentary’s release on June 19, the details of other families being wrongly accused at the same hospital have also surfaced including ‘American Idol’ finalist Syesha Mercado and father-of-two Vadim Kushner.
Kushnir and his wife had their son William, July 2018. His umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, turning him blue and bruises dotted his head and shoulders, according to the Daytona Beach News Journal.
For weeks he would cry at every touch and when he started to have seizures the worried parents took him into Johns Hopkins.
The next day, Smith came to inspect him and without introducing herself or answering their questions took photos of the newborn, including his genitals.
Astonished fans and parents watched the drama unfold on a live social media feed – the reality star making a desperate plea to get her son home after she was wrongly accused of abuse
In 2021, a petition to fire Smith began to circulate – At the time, American Idol finalist Syesha Mercado and her partner Tyron Deener faced an eight month nightmare starting in Feb 2021 – when they brought their then 13-month-old son Amen’Ra to Johns Hopkins
‘This is child abuse, and I’m going to prove it,’ she said, according to Vadim. Then she left.
According to court records William’s seizures were determined to be ‘the result of shaken baby or blunt force trauma’ according to Smith.
The Kushnirs fought back spending $30,000 on attorneys and experts who argued the baby’s condition resulted from a complicated birth not abuse.
The judge agreed and in the final order, even criticized the state’s doctors for not knowing their month old son wasn’t breathing at birth.
One doctor who provided testimony admitted he ‘never reviewed all his medical records,’ according to court records.
