‘Take Care of Maya’ trial: Maya testifies again in $220 million case against All Children’s Hospital
VENICE, Fla. - After an emotional afternoon of testimony from her father and brother, Maya Kowalski, the teen at the heart of a $220 million lawsuit against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital that is the premise of the Netflix documentary ‘Take Care of Maya’ took the witness stand again on Friday morning.
Maya told the jurors that while she still experiences physical pain she does not want to go to a doctor because of what happened to her at Johns Hopkins Al Children’s Hospital. She added that she was hesitant to tell her father when she was in pain because she doesn’t want to burden him.
Maya also told the jurors she suffers from insomnia and still has nightmares about being kept at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. She added that she has trouble concentrating, which makes it difficult to focus on school or even read a book.
"Whenever I dream, it’s not dreams, it’s more nightmares and remembering all the trauma," she said.
Maya told the jurors that her CRPS fluctuates and that she was at a 7-8 pain threshold as she sat on the witness stand. She added that she currently has lesions and involuntary twitches. Maya also explained that she suffers from anxiety and stress.
Through tears, Maya described how she was unable to do things and go places she once loved because she feared she would run into someone who she knew from Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.
She added that she thinks of her mother every day and little things like a certain perfume or seeing a woman with blonde hair or who has glasses brings up memories of her mom, which is a blessing and a curse.
Maya also recalled that she was told that her mother was in a mental institution and that was why she couldn’t see her mother.
Seven years later, Maya said every phone call with her mom was special, despite calls being monitored and interrupted.
"I feel like if I would have let her feel that I was okay that she wouldn’t have taken the step to end her life to get me out of there," she said.
The Kowalski family claims the actions of Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital led Beata Kowalski to take her own life. The family is suing for $220 million and economist Kristi Kirby took the stand after Maya on Friday to explain the economic damages she says the family has incurred and will incur in the future.
What Happened to Maya from ‘Take Care of Maya’?
The Kowalski’s say they took Maya to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in October 2016 when she was experiencing a flare up of pain from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, or CRPS.
On Monday, Maya told jurors her condition would leave her screaming in pain and unable to walk at the time. She said she received the painkiller ketamine during a series of intense treatments in Mexico, in which she was told there was a 50 percent chance of death.
She explained that the ketamine treatment worked, and she was improving until the October 2016 flare up.
Pictured: Maya Kowalski
Her mother, Beata Kowalski, insisted that she receive ketamine at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. But staff at the hospital disagreed with the treatments.
Her persistence alarmed hospital staff and they called in a report to the Child Abuse Hotline. They suspected Beata Kowalski, who was a registered nurse, was making her daughter sick.
When the hospital’s attorney, Howard Hunter, began his opening statements, he noted that several hospital staffers believed Beata Kowalski suffered from Munchausen by proxy (MBP) and they were trying to protect her.
Pictured: Beata Kowalski
On Thursday, in a video deposition, Dr. Sally Smith, who was the medical director for the child protection team providing a medical evaluation for Maya while she was at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, said she knew that four other physicians had diagnosed Maya with CRPS.
When questioned, she said that she did not believe that a mother who failed to tell a new doctor about their child’s entire medical history, or who does not follow the directions if a doctor or the prescriptions of a doctor to the letter was committing an act of child abuse.
However, she added that she believed Maya’s mother, Beata Kowalski, was committing medical child abuse though she admitted that she had never testified in a case involving CRPS in the past.
Jurors watched a video deposition of Dr. Sally Smith on Thursday.
"Upon review of all the extensive medical records, observations of the child in the hospital, review of the unconventional treatments including hyperbaric oxygen treatment and high dose ketamine treatment repeatedly. It was my opinion that there was ample evidence of medical child abuse and it appeared Mrs. Kowalski was the primary one who was resulting in instigating or perpetrating child abuse," Dr.Smith stated.
Dr. Smith also said she recalled that Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick, who diagnosed Maya with CRPS and recommended ketamine treatment, advised her not to move forward with allegations that Beata Kowalski was suffering from Munchausen by proxy.
Jurors also heard Smith say she suggested doctors at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital take Maya off of all medications.
Maya and Beata Kowalski perform a figure skating routine.
Why was Maya kept away from her family?
A judge ordered Maya to be sheltered at the hospital while the child abuse allegations were investigated. She wasn’t allowed to be discharged to her family or another treatment facility and could not see her mother. A judge ordered her to remain at the hospital under state custody. Beata Kowalski died by suicide after being kept away from her daughter for 87 days. The Kowalskis say Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital medically kidnapped Maya and battered her while in their care.
Maya said, during her three months in state custody at the hospital, there was a 48-hour period where she was isolated in a hospital room. Maya said staff wouldn't help her go to the bathroom and, instead, tried to see if she could actually walk, but she couldn't.
A video of Marissa Higgins helping Maya try to walk was shown in court on Friday.
"They left me there for 48 hours under surveillance, which they did not tell me about. They had a commode in there, and they just put it far enough away from the bed. So, I would have to physically stand up and use the bathroom," said Maya. "I called the nurses whenever I had to use a bathroom because obviously, I'm not able to walk. And when they refused to help me go to the bathroom, I would defecate on myself."
RELATED: ‘Take Care of Maya’ trial: Maya testifies in $220 million case against All Children’s Hospital
She described some nurses as mean and unhelpful, and others as compassionate and willing to help. Her testimony on Monday was emotional at times as she expressed her frustration.
"When I express to them a symptom or like my pain, they would say, 'No, you're making it up,' or 'it's in your head,'" Maya said.
Jack Kowalski, Maya’s father, testified last week that his family was told they would be arrested if they left the facility with Maya.
He went on to describe how the hospital treated those who tried to visit Maya.
"Did you learn through the course of this that they believed Beata was slipping ketamine through the holy water and wafers?" the Kowalski's family attorney Greg Anderson asked.
"I know it didn’t happen, but they had all different ideas," Jack Kowalski replied.
Maya Kowalski's dad testifies
Maya Kowalski's father, Jack Kowalski, described the pain his daughter was experiencing as she suffered with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome when he took the stand Monday afternoon in a $220 million case against Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital featured in the Netflix documentary 'Take Care of Maya'
Anderson argued those theories resulted in Beata Kowalski’s desperation and death by suicide.
"I saw my child deteriorating. I go home, I see my wife deteriorating," shared Jack Kowalski while on the witness stand.
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Attorney Mark Zimmerman, who represented Maya when she was at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, said he felt as if the facility, and, in particular, social worker Catherine Bedy, tried to put up barriers for him to access Maya.
Beata Kowalski with Maya and Kyle
A phone call between Beata and Maya that was monitored by Bedy was also played in court on Thursday.
Maya’s former Guardian Ad Litem, Jessica Blackrick, testified that Bedy cut a phone short a phone call in which Maya and her mother were praying together.
Blackrick added that a phone call that Maya wanted to make to her mother on Thanksgiving was blocked by Bedy because she couldn’t make herself available to monitor it.
Blackrick went on to state that she never told Bedy to monitor those phone calls.
Pictured: Maya Kowalski with boots on her feet.
Jurors watched a taped deposition of Bedy last Thursday. The Kowalski family dropped its case against Bedy shortly before the trial began.
Bedy began her deposition by explaining how she was written up by the hospital after yelling at a co-worker after an attorney asked her if she had ever been disciplined at work.
The battery allegations from the Kowalski family stem from Bedy and others holding Maya down for unwanted photos and unwanted comforting.
She went on to described how she met Maya and accused her mother, Beata Kowalski, of having Munchausen by proxy, but admitted she was not an expert on the disease and stated she had only worked with three similar cases.
Bedy said she saw Beata Kowalski demand ketamine for her daughter. Although the hospital says it believed the ketamine treatments were too dangerous, Bedy admitted that the facility did not take into consideration that Maya had been prescribed the ketamine treatments.
Maya Kowalski in hospital.
After seeing Bedy’s deposition on Thursday, the jury was dismissed, while the court held a hearing on future evidence in the case. During the hearing, Maya’s father Jack Kowalski was asked about Bedy, and he said Maya couldn’t stand her.
"She stated she placed her on the lap. I never gave consent by the way on that. She stated that she used to come in and slap her leg to see if she was in pain, she said she wanted to adopt her that her mother was in a mental home, so she could be like her mother while in the hospital," he said.
Pictured: Beata and Maya Kowalski
Why was Maya taking ketamine?
Beata Kowalski, who was a registered nurse, learned about CRPS from an infusion patient and began researching the disease. Her research led her to Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick, who diagnosed Maya with CRPS and prescribed ketamine treatments.
RELATED: ‘Take Care of Maya’ trial: Doctor who prescribed ketamine treatments testifies in $220 million case
On Tuesday, jurors heard from Dr. Kirkpatrick, he told the jury that initially Maya said the ketamine treatments helped, but not enough so he recommended a high-intensity treatment in Mexico, which he said was a success.
Doctor testifies at ‘Take Care of Maya’ trial
Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick, the physician who diagnosed Maya Kowalski with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and prescribed ketamine treatments took the stand in a $220 million case against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital featured in the Netflix documentary ‘Take Care of Maya’.
"He explained the procedure. He talked about how it’s been around for quite a long time. He mentioned it’s used for many things, and it’s safe," Jack Kowalski stated during testimony on Monday. "The side effect when they’re coming out of it is a hallucination for a short time, but then everything is back to normal."
Upon cross-examination of Jack Kowalski, defense attorneys for the hospital questioned the family’s decision to move forward with ketamine coma treatment in Mexico.
File: Ketamine
"Were you aware that the risk of death from that coma was 50%?" asked Ethen Shapiro.
"There is a risk in every procedure," Kowalski responded.
"I understand that Mr. Kowalski but respectfully there’s a risk and then there’s a risk that’s a coin flip in which your daughter could pass. Did you know it was 50%" Shapiro pressed on.
RELATED: ‘Take Care of Maya’ trial: Doctor who's treated thousands for CRPS testifies on behalf of Maya
"They stated it was 50%, but they stated no one every died from that procedure," responded Kowalski.
Side by side images of Maya Kowalski as she battled CRPS.
Maya’s father told the jury he and his family saw Maya slowly returning to herself following the ketamine therapy.
Dr. Kirkpatrick shared a similar testimony
"She could take care of herself, comb her hair, brush her teeth, eat with her hands and so forth" he recalled.
RELATED: ‘Take Care of Maya’ trial: Doctor who prescribed ketamine treatments testifies in $220 million case
When Maya relapsed in 2016, the Kowalski family says staff at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital didn’t agree with the ketamine treatments.
Maya Kowalski in the hospital.
Dr. Kirkpatrick said he discussed Maya’s condition with the hospital.
"I emphasized that if she doesn’t get the ketamine, it’s going to be a slow, painful death," Dr. Kirkpatrick stated.
On Wednesday, Dr. Fernando Cantu, the doctor who administered Maya's ketamine coma, explained that while it will not cure CRPS, it is a treatment for the disease.
However, staff at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital disagreed with the ketamine treatments and suspected Maya was a victim of child abuse.
Maya and her physician Fernando Cantu.
What is Complex Regional Pain Syndrome?
CRPS is a rare pain disease that can follow an injury, and it’s tough to diagnose and sufferers are sometimes accused of faking their pain.
There’s no cure for CRPS and treatments can range from acupuncture and nutrition to physical therapy and massage or ketamine therapy.
The Kowalski family attorney argued that the hospital staff refused to believe Maya had CRPS even after Dr. Kirkpatrick, who did not work for All Children’s Hospital, confirmed her diagnosis.
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The Kowalski family claims that while hospital staff was accusing them of lying about CRPS and refusing to treat Maya, the facility was billing the family and their insurance more than half a million dollars for that exact cause of illness.
File: Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital
Jurors will ultimately have to decide whether what happened to the Kowalski family could have been prevented and if the hospital’s actions pushed Beata Kowalski to take her own life.
"We ask in this case for you to consider not only compensatory damages to try to make them whole for these terrible things, but also punitive damages to deter them to punish them and to deter this type of behavior in the future," said Greg Anderson, Maya Kowalski’s lawyer.
The trial may last up to two months.