Lawyers representing the family of a teenage girl who was “held captive” in a Florida hospital at the age of 10 said the “horrific” incident amounted to the girl’s “kidnapping, detention and ill-treatment.”
Maya Kowalski, now 17, was taken 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 von Munchausen, by proxy (MSP) – a mental illness and a form of child abuse in which a child’s caregiver, usually a mother, either makes up false symptoms or creates real symptoms to make it appear so as if the child were sick.
After being separated from her daughter for more than 87 days and a court order barring her from seeing her child, Beata took her own life – a tragedy that haunts the Kowalskis to this day.
AndersonGlenn LLP has filed a lawsuit against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and has set a trial date for September. The Kowalski family is seeking $55 million in compensatory damages and $165 million in punitive damages.
Lawyers representing the family of a teenage girl who was “held captive” in a Florida hospital at the age of 10 said the “horrific” incident amounted to the girl’s “kidnapping, detention and ill-treatment.”
Gregory Anderson, who founded the firm in 1990 and focuses on corporate and commercial disputes, admiralty and personal injury law, said the late 2016/early 2017 incidents had an “irreparable” impact on Maya, her father Jack and her brother Kyle.
“The horrific events from the admission on October 7, 2016 to Maya’s release on January 14, 2017 are well documented,” Anderson exclusively told .
“These events amount to the kidnapping, detention and abuse of a 10-year-old girl.” Her parents were irreparably defamed and harmed.
“Beata took her own life to get her daughter out of the ‘care’ of the Johns Hopkins. The resulting legal battle was the worst I have ever seen.”
He said the incident happened in the fall of 2016. Maya was released and the Kowalskis were exonerated on January 14, 2017 – after Beata took her own life.
Gregory Anderson, who founded the firm in 1990 and focuses on corporate and commercial disputes, admiralty and personal injury law
“We were hired in the fall of 2017 and sent out our first information letters in December.” “We filed a lawsuit in 2018 — that was five years ago, five years of brutal litigation,” he said.
“The Kowalskis have incurred millions of dollars in legal fees and expenses. Maya, Jack and Kyle will need medical attention and therapy for the rest of their lives.”
The ordeal began when Maya was nine years old, and she began suffering excruciating headaches, asthma attacks, and painful lesions on her arms and legs, as well as cramps and curling in her feet.
When doctors at a local hospital were stumped as to her health, Maya’s parents began doing their own research.
Maya’s mother, a registered nurse, discovered that her daughter may have CPRS and after a visit to a specialist, this was confirmed.
dr Anthony Kirkpatrick, a CRPS anesthetist and pharmacologist in Tampa, gave Maya the anesthetic ketamine through IVs.
He then recommended a more aggressive treatment called “ketamine coma,” in which the patient is given a five-day regimen to essentially “reset” the nervous system.
The still-experimental procedure hadn’t yet been approved by the FDA, so Maya and her family traveled to Mexico in 2015 — although they were aware of the risks involved.
The teenager said she felt “amazing” after the procedure and continued to be on ketamine infusions to treat flare-ups, as the specialist said there was no cure for the condition.
Less than a year after the experimental treatment, Maya was admitted to 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 believe is the only way to relieve their daughter’s debilitating pain.
Maya Kowalski, now 17, has been jailed for three months after doctors accused her parents of faking symptoms of her debilitating complex regional pain syndrome (CPRS).
After the CPRS was confirmed, Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick, a CRPS anesthesiologist and pharmacologist in Tampa, Maya used the anesthetic ketamine through IVs
Hospital staff reportedly alerted the protection services, who later accused Beata of child abuse due to MSP.
“One of the most startling violations that will come to light in court is the aggravation of Maya’s CRPS as a result of Johns Hopkins’ misconduct in misdiagnosing CRPS as a Munchausen proxy,” Anderson said.
“Maya was fortunate to finally find professionals who could provide her with the care she needed, particularly ketamine therapy and gentler forms of physical therapy with warm water exercises.”
“Detected early and treated with the latest therapies, CRPS does not have to be a death sentence or destroy a person’s life.”
Anderson said that when Maya relapsed, she could have recovered “very successfully,” but Johns Hopkins “removed all tried and tested therapies and treated her like a psychiatric patient.”
“As a result, her CRPS now poses a threat to her life and will manifest with more frequent, longer-lasting, and more severe and painful events throughout her 30s to early 50s,” he said.
The Kowalskis detailed the harrowing experience in a scathing new Netflix documentary released June 19.
dr Child Services’ Sally Smith, who is now retired, was considered something of a “doyenne in her field” and was formally asked to investigate Maya’s case after it was discovered Beata had “mental problems”.
According to the documentary, it was alleged at the time that Smith was taking children out of their homes at one of the highest rates in Florida’s counties.
dr Anthony Kirkpatrick, who first diagnosed Maya with CRPS, confirmed Smith’s diagnosis during her initial exam.
According to The Cut, he also officially warned that a child abuse case would “cause unnecessary and lasting harm to the child and the family.”
AndersonGlenn LLP has filed a lawsuit against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and has set a trial date for September. The Kowalski family is seeking $55 million in compensatory damages and $165 million in punitive damages
dr Child Services’ Sally Smith, who is now retired, was considered something of a “doyenne in her field” and was formally asked to investigate Maya’s case after it was discovered Beata had “mental problems”.
However, Smith filed the case without considering Kirkpatrick’s warnings.
After Maya’s symptoms did not improve, the Munchausen proxy diagnosis was withdrawn. Smith and other doctors began to believe that she was making up her symptoms.
Beata also underwent a formal evaluation and was diagnosed with depressed mood and an adjustment disorder following separation from her daughter.
Smith retired in July this year, telling the magazine she’s not “a terrible person whose goal in life is to destroy families.”
“I’ve spent my adult life helping the children in my community improve conditions of abuse and neglect,” she said.
“I wish our society would do more to help families in need provide a safe and caring home for their children.”
“I’m not a big advocate of penalties for such families, contrary to media portrayals of me.”
In December 2021, Smith and the Suncoast Center settled their side of the lawsuit with the Kowalski family.
“We have children who come to us who have less serious injuries and it is recommended that the child be removed for safety,” she told the Cut.
“The next day, the judge denied that motion. Just because he states he won’t press charges doesn’t mean there wasn’t child abuse or that I made a mistake.”
Smith added that she “saw dozens of kids being literally beaten to death.”
“I have seen hundreds of babies and children killed or maimed by abusive head trauma.”
Beata also underwent a formal evaluation and was diagnosed with depressed mood and an adjustment disorder following separation from her daughter
Anderson said the incident happened in the fall of 2016, Maya was released, and the Kowalskis were exonerated on January 14, 2017 — after Beata took her own life
“I have seen hundreds of other babies and children who have suffered multiple broken bones from abuse, including toddlers with more than 20 fractures in various stages of healing.
“I saw numerous children with ruptured bowels and internal organs from abusive abdominal injuries, some of whom died.”
She admitted to the outlet that those factors, along with biased reporting and threats by phone and social media to kill her and burn down her house, led to her eventually retiring.
“My wish is that somehow people trying to vilify pediatricians for child abuse find the critical knowledge, tools and framework to understand the tremendous challenges that these children and their families and caregivers pose to our society and to physicians. better understood and represented,” she said.
Anderson said Johns Hopkins was liable for Smith’s actions as the hospital’s agent.
“Sally Smith has resolved her personal case for an amount that we are unable to disclose due to confidentiality agreements in the settlement documents,” he explained.
“The Kowalskis are suing Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital for its role in including Sally Smith in the hospital’s operations — she headed the child abuse unit.”
“Sally Smith is a witness at the trial. She has made at least two previous court decisions where a court has found her opinions unreliable.”
Anderson said the defendants in the 9/11 trial will be Johns Hopkins and hospital worker Cathy Bedy, who was accused of child molestation in the documentary.
“The Kowalskis hope that on 9/11 they will finally be heard and have a chance at justice,” Anderson said.
“The Netflix documentary, with special thanks to Caitlin Keating and Henry Roosevelt, did a great job of getting their message across.”
“Beata took her own life to get her daughter out of the ‘care’ of the Johns Hopkins. “The resulting legal battle was the worst I’ve ever seen,” Anderson said
dr Anthony Kirkpatrick, who first diagnosed Maya with CRPS, confirmed Smith’s diagnosis during her initial exam
“Maya has CRPS and will have an aggravation of it for the rest of her life.” Jack, Kyle and Maya will live with the consequences of JHACH’s actions for the rest of their lives.”
When reached out to JHACH, Danielle Caci, a spokeswoman for the hospital, said the amount of information we can release is extremely limited.
“Our priority at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital is always the safety and privacy of our patients and their families. As such, we comply with federal privacy laws, which limit the amount of information we can release on any given case,” Caci said in a brief statement.
“Our first responsibility is always to the child who is brought into our care and we have a legal obligation to notify the Department for Children and Families (DCF) if we find any signs of possible abuse or neglect.”
“DCF is investigating the situation and making the final decision as to what course of action is in the child’s best interests,” she said.
Since the documentary’s release on June 19, details have also surfaced about other families wrongfully charged at the same hospital, including American Idol finalist Syesha Mercado and father-of-two Vadim Kushner.
According to the Daytona Beach News Journal, Kushnir and his wife gave birth to their son, William, in July 2018. His umbilical cord was looped around his neck, turning him blue and bruising his head and shoulders.
For weeks he cried at every touch and when he had seizures, the worried parents took him to Johns Hopkins.
In 2021, a petition to fire Smith began circulating. Back then, American Idol finalist Syesha Mercado and her partner Tyron Deener experienced an eight-month nightmare beginning in February 2021 when they gave birth to their then-13-month-old son Amen’Ra at Johns Hopkins
Stunned fans and parents followed the drama in a live feed on social media – the reality star desperately pleaded to bring her son home after being wrongfully accused of abuse
The next day, Smith came to examine him and without introducing herself or answering her questions, she took pictures of the newborn, including his genitals.
“This is child abuse, and I will prove it,” she said, according to Vadim. Then she left.
According to court documents, Smith said Williams’ seizures “were the result of shaken birth or blunt force trauma.”
The Kushnirs fought back, spending $30,000 on lawyers and experts who argued the baby’s condition was the result of a complicated birth and not abuse.
The judge agreed, and in the final ruling even criticized the state’s doctors for not knowing that their one-month-old son was not breathing at birth.
A doctor who testified admitted, according to court documents, that he “never reviewed all of his medical records.”
In 2021, a petition to fire Smith began doing the rounds when dozens of stories surfaced from families accused of abuse, citing a USA Today investigation.
Back then, American Idol finalist Syesha Mercado and her partner Tyron Deener experienced an eight-month nightmare from February 2021 — when they brought their then-13-month-old son Amen’Ra to Johns Hopkins.
They feared Mercado’s breast milk was running low and the boy was no longer taking any other fluids – but instead of helping, authorities placed their young son in foster care over concerns about malnutrition.
They expected to take him home after treatment, but a few weeks later police ordered the couple off the hospital’s campus.
Six months later, and about 10 days after Mercado gave birth to a daughter named Ast, police surrounded the couple’s car and took the girl into protective custody.
Mercado gave birth to a daughter, Ast, and police surrounded the couple’s car and took the girl into protective custody
Mercado and Deener regained custody of their 16-month-old son Amen in October. Mercado captioned an Instagram post: “AMEN RA IS OFFICIALLY HOME!!!”
Stunned fans and parents followed the drama live on social media – with the reality star desperately pleading to bring her son home.
“This is my first time as a mother and I have been denied the ability to hold and feed my babies,” she said during a news conference in August of that year.
“I haven’t seen Ra say ‘mama’ for the first time. I didn’t get to see my babies meet for the first time.
“I couldn’t see that and I can’t go back and repeat that moment. I will never be able to go back and repeat that moment again.”
Deneer said, “If this can happen to us, it can happen to you.” We don’t have a criminal background. We have no history with DCF. “We did nothing wrong.”
In October the whole family was reunited.
