Warning: The following article mentions sexual abuse and suicide. Please read with caution.
In Nov. 2023, there were several legal updates in the Kowalski family story from the 2023 Netflix true-crime documentary Take Care of Maya. In early November, a jury awarded the Kowalskis around $260 million, and found All Children’s Hospital liable for its role in Beata Kowalski’s decision to take her own life.
Following that decision, the Kowalski family brought another criminal complaint against the St. Petersburg, Florida health care institution, alleging Maya Kowalski was sexually abused while in its care.
In 2016, 10-year-old Maya Kowalski was admitted to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital for complex regional pain syndrome, a rare chronic pain condition. Hospital administrators doubted Maya and her mother and alleged Beata, a nurse, was experiencing Munchausen by proxy, an uncommon psychological and behavioral disorder in which caretakers — often mothers — seek unnecessary medical attention for their children. As a result, Maya was isolated from her family.
According to a Florida jury, that decision led Beata to end her own life three months later, and Maya was wrongfully separated from her family, among other charges, according to Florida NPR affiliate WUSF.
After the verdict, Maya, who was 17 years old as of 2023, said, “I want people to know that [Beata] wasn’t harming me at all … for the first time, I feel like I got justice” (via Fox 13 Tampa Bay).
The Kowalski family sex abuse allegations
As mentioned, once the Beata Kowalski suicide lawsuit verdict was handed down, her family filed another lawsuit against All Children’s Hospital, alleging Maya Kowalski was sexually abused while there, according to The Independent. Maya reportedly based those accusations on suppressed memories that surfaced just weeks before the conclusion of the first lawsuit her family brought against the institution.
All Children’s Hospital has defended its actions in the Kowalski matter and is expected to appeal the $260 million ruling.
Regarding the sexual abuse allegations, an attorney for the hospital said:
“As soon as the hospital became aware of the allegations, and in accordance with their policies, they immediately initiated an internal investigation and contacted law enforcement last month. Federal privacy laws restrict Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital from sharing more, but the hospital takes allegations of this nature very seriously and always puts the safety of their patients above all else” (via NewsNation).
On whether Netflix’s Take Care of Maya documentary may have biased the jury, Tampa Bay Times reporter Chris O’Donnell, who covered the case, told WUSF:
“It’s impossible to say whether all of the jurors saw the documentary. So during jury screening, that was obviously one of the things that came up. But I will say this, it was a family story with a terrible tragedy. It’s hard to imagine that the jury wasn’t sympathetic toward this young girl who, so very eloquently, was very well-spoken on the witness stand. But emotional when, even when the verdict was read, she and her brother and their father, they all wept. There was no hint of celebration.”