DISTURBING details from the Maya Kowalski trial have been revealed after the family was awarded a multi-million-dollar settlement when a jury found a Johns Hopkins Medical Center liable for her mother's death.
Jack Kowalski, Maya's father, filed a $220 million lawsuit against the hospital on behalf of his family, claiming that the hospital led to his wife, Beata, taking her own life.
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The trial began on September 21 and lasted eight weeks until the hospital was found liable for multiple civil claims.
Maya, 17, will receive the millions in damages awarded to her when she turns 18, however, an exact dollar amount has yet to be determined.
While the trial was short, shocking information was revealed through testimony from Maya and her family.
The U.S. Sun has compiled a list of some of the most harrowing details from the case that was viewed by millions in the Netflix documentary, Take Care of Maya.
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MAYA WAS FALSELY IMPRISONED
Maya had health issues that affected her for years and caused debilitating pain.
She was soon diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome in 2016 after receiving treatment in both the US and Mexico.
The girl was admitted to Johns Hopkins in 2015 for severe pain and asthma attacks.
However, hospital staff soon accused Maya's mother, Beata Kowalski, of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, believing that she was purposely affecting Maya's health for attention, and contacted child protective services.
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The hospital claimed that Beata was causing Maya's condition to worsen by giving her excessive doses of pain medication.
Maya was removed from her parent's custody but her parents accused the hospital of medically kidnapping the girl.
A jury of four women and two men said the hospital falsely imprisoned Maya when it blocked the family from leaving the hospital with their child.
FATHER'S HEARTBREAKING TESTIMONY
Jack Kowalski testified in court that he wanted to take Maya out of the facility after the hospital removed her from her parent's custody.
However, he said that he was told that he and his wife would have been arrested if they left with their daughter.
"Did you learn through the course of this that they believed Beata was slipping ketamine through the holy water and wafers?" asked the Kowalski's family attorney, Greg Anderson in court.
"I know it didn’t happen, but they had all different ideas," Jack said.
Anderson argued that the allegations made Beata desperate, leading to her death by suicide.
"I saw my child deteriorating. I go home, I see my wife deteriorating," Jack said on the witness stand.
Jack also stated that Maya's condition greatly affected her life, saying she would be screaming and there was "nothing" he or her mother could do to help.
"If she took a shower, the droplets of the water would make her scream," he said. "Put a sheet over her legs and she would scream."
Jack said Maya needed assistance to use the toilet and would look out the window to see her friends playing but couldn't join them.
"And you knew she was not faking this," said Jack.
BEATA ACCUSED OF ABUSE
While Maya was being treated at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in Florida, staff grew skeptical of her CRPS diagnosis and called the state abuse hotline to report Beata for possible medical child abuse.
Following an investigation, a judge ordered that Maya be removed from her parent's care and she was sheltered at the hospital.
Beata took her own life on January 7, 2017, after she was unable to see Maya for 87 days due to the abuse allegations, said Anderson.
Jack's lawsuit revealed that the family told doctors that Maya's CRPS could be treated with high doses of ketamine but when Beata explained that to All Children's, she was reported for abuse.
"It seemed like they didn't want to listen to what we were trying to tell them," Jack told the Herald-Tribune in 2019.
Critical care physician Dr. Beatriz Teppa-Sanchez testified that Beata had said that she was very stressed and made a comment that she wanted to die and go to heaven.
Teppa-Sanchez said that she told Beata that the hospital could give her resources to help her but she declined the offer.
MAYA WAS STRIPPED BY HOSPITAL STAFF
The Kowalski family accused the hospital of battery, claiming they stripped Maya, then 10, down to a sports bra and shorts to take photos of lesions without her parent's permission.
During this time, Maya was taken into a room with video surveillance for 48 hours.
The family added that a hospital social worker who took the photos would sometimes hug and kiss Maya and even place her on her lap.
Maya called the ordeal "traumatic" when she testified in court.
"To be held against your will, being forced to take off your clothes in front of these strangers, essentially, it’s extremely uncomfortable," she said.
"I don’t think I can convey to you how traumatic that was."
HOSPITAL WOULDN'T ALLOW HOLY WATER
When Maya testified, the teen told the court the hospital took strict measures when she was in state custody.
Maya, who was raised as a Catholic, wasn't allowed to have sacraments given to her by a priest.
"They believed my mom was putting ketamine in the wafers and the holy water," she testified.
She was later given a rosary and a prayer book but wasn't allowed to pray on the phone with her mother.
"They thought my mom was controlling me through religion," she said.
Maya added that she was never directly told what was happening to her.
"I was stripped from my family," she said.
Jack also testified that much of the family's religious items weren't allowed in Maya's room.
"It was taken away," he said, adding that he had "no clue" what the hospital was worried about.
SEEING HER MOTHER WAS HELD AGAINST HER
Maya told the court that she wasn't allowed to speak Polish with her mother.
"I was told I had to speak English so they could understand," she testified.
She cried during her testimony, saying that she wasn't allowed to attend a court hearing where her mother would be present if she didn't agree to be photographed.
Joseph Corcoran, a retired hospital administrator at All Children's told jurors that employees at the hospital had reported a culture of retaliation against those who spoke up.
He added that the hospital's organization prevented affected oversight by its governing board.
"It was a totally dysfunctional organization and the Kowalskis paid the price," Anderson said in closing arguments.
PUTTING HER IN PAIN ON PURPOSE
Jack testified that, without his or Beata's consent, the hospital tested Maya to see if she could actually get up and walk around her room.
Staff would place Maya's commode, or portable toilet, just out of reach for her to walk to.
"It was the commode and also the phone," Jack said. "They would ring the phone to see if she would answer the phone."
"And both of those were out of reach?" Anderson asked.
"Yes," said Jack.
Then the attorney asked if Jack would have given consent to the tests if he had been made aware of them.
"Absolutely not," said Jack.
JUSTICE SERVED
On Thursday, Maya sobbed uncontrollably in court, clutching a set of rosary beads, when the hospital was found liable for battery, fraudulent billing of Jack, inflicting emotional distress on Beata, wrongful death claim for the estate of Beata, and intentionally inflicting emotional distress on Maya.
The jury deliberated for just 16 hours over a three-day span.
Johns Hopkins' attorney, Howard Hunter of Hill Ward Henderson, has released a statement following the verdict announcement: "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.
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"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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