On June 19, 2023, Netflix released a 103-minute-long documentary, Take Care of Maya. This project showcased the tragic story of a young girl named Maya Kowalski.
This story began in 2016 when Maya’s parents, Beata and Jack Kowalski, took their 10-year-old daughter to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. According to Dexerto, the little girl was suffering from intense abdominal pain. Maya’s parents believed that their daughter had a condition called complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Furthermore, they asked doctors to give her a massive dose of ketamine to ease the pain.
Apparently, a local anesthesiologist named Anthony Kirkpatrick had diagnosed Maya with the disease and suggested ketamine infusion treatment. However, the dosage the 10-year-old’s parents asked for was huge. Soon, Dr. Sally Smith, the medical director of the child protection team for Pinellas County, evaluated this case.
After a lot of evaluation, Dr. Sally Smith believed that Maya was a victim of abuse. Furthermore, she thought that Maya’s mother suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy. This is a mental illness where the caretaker either fabricates symptoms or makes real ones to make the child look ill. Even though their daughter wanted them to stay, Beata and Jack were ordered to leave the hospital. From this point onward, the Kowalski family began the battle for Maya’s custody.
Maya was kept under state custody. However, three months later, Beata took her own life.
According to Tudum by Netflix, the synopsis of Take Care of Maya reads,
“In 2016 Jack and Beata Kowalski took their daughter, Maya, to a hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. The 10-year-old was admitted to the ER with a severe stomachache. Instead of a quick hospital stay, Maya was taken from her parents and kept there.”
It further reads,
“The tragedy that unfolded next is the subject of the investigative documentary Take Care of Maya, a troubling exploration of how a fractured healthcare industry tore a family apart. The film is told from the Kowalski family perspective, and was directed by Henry Roosevelt (Native Boy).”
Take Care of Maya: Where is Maya Kowalski now?
According to Women’s Health, Maya Kowalski, now 17, resides with her brother and father in Venice, Florida.
According to the New York Post, Maya Kowalski blamed herself for her mother’s suicide in her court testimony.
She said, “I feel like if I let her think that I was doing okay that maybe she wouldn’t have taken the step of ending her life to get me out of there. I feel like it’s my fault.”
Moreover, the Kowalski family sued Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital for their role in Beata Kowalski’s suicide. In the trial, according to Women’s Health, officials found the hospital liable for False imprisonment, Battery, Medical negligence, Fraudulent billing, Survivor claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress, Wrongful death claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress causing death, and Maya Kowalski’s claim for infliction of emotional distress.
According to The New York Times, Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital will pay the family $261 million for their troubles.
