SARASOTA COUNTY, FLORIDA: Jack Kowalski - on behalf of the Kowalski family - who lost his wife Beata by suicide, filed a lawsuit against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital whose hearing started in September.
The hospital accused Beata of having a mental disorder Munchausen by proxy which ultimately led to her suicide.
The Kowalski family was propelled to the limelight when Netflix detailed the intricacies of Beata’s death in the documentary ‘Take Care of Maya’.
Per People, the Kowalski family accused the JHACH of playing an active role in separating Beata from her daughter Maya which subsequently resulted in her death.
Who is Maya Kowalski?
Maya, 17, is the daughter of Jack and Beata Kowalski and was taken to the JHACH in October 2016 which started the chain of events concluding in tragedy.
In the lawsuit filed on behalf of the family, Jack claimed that Maya was suffering from a debilitating condition of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) since 2015 when she was just 9 years old.
CRPS is a rare neurological condition where the body misreads light touches as a stimulus inducing excruciating pain which ultimately causes stiffness, spasms, and restricted mobility.
A Tampa Florida doctor, who specializes in CRPS then prescribed ketamine treatment for Maya. according to Maya’s family, she started getting positive results from the treatment.
However, in October 2016, after Maya had a flare-up, she was taken to the JHAHC, reports Daily Mail.
In the complaint, the family stated that the hospital staff got “offended and defensive” when Beata requested ketamine to be administered to Maya as it had a positive effect on her pain.
The complaint accuses hospital staff of becoming 'offended and defensive' by the parents' suggestions on how to treat Maya.
The hospital’s investigative team later accused Beata of child abuse because of Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSP).
MSP is a mental disorder where a caregiver makes a child look sick by faking illnesses and symptoms.
Per People, an attorney for the hospital said during the hearing, “There was concern that part of this child's condition was being fostered or encouraged by the mother.”
After Maya was taken to the hospital, she was placed under state custody in the hospital and didn’t see her family for three months.
The lawsuit said, “Defendants imprisoned Maya at [Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg] with no legal justification.”
The hospital denied the charges saying, in a statement per Daily Mail, “Our priority at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital is always the safety and privacy of our patients and their families, and we are vigorously defending against the false allegations made in the suit.”
The hospital continued, “Our first responsibility is always to the child brought to us for care, and we stand behind our staff's compassionate care.”
Jack Kowalski's harrowing 911 call
During the hearing on Friday, September 22, Maya’s brother Kyle Kowalski, uncle Robert Rynes, neighbor, and teacher testified in the courtroom. The trial was covered by Fox 13.
Rynes described the harrowing incident and said on the stand, “Jack called me and said Beata just hung herself and that I needed to get over there right away.”
The shocking 911 call made by Jack Kowalski after they found Beata’s dead body hanging from their garage was also played in the courtroom.
As the call played, the family members were seen weeping.
The call was heard as the operator asked, “911 what's your emergency.”
Jack replied in a panicked state, “She hung herself,” before repeating, “She hung herself in the garage.”
When the operator asked him whether he was with Beata, he affirmed, “Yeah I'm in the garage.”
“She's stiff, she's stiff, oh my god,” he was heard before saying to his son Kyle, “No you can't go in there.”
The news outlet reports that the complaint from Pinellas County reads Beata died by suicide because of the mental stress generated after losing her daughter to state custody for three months.
How did Beata Kowalski die?
Stressed by the accusations and the grief of not being able to see her daughter, Beata died on January 6, 2017 on the 87th day after losing Maya.
In an email that was discovered after her death, she wrote, “I’m sorry,” before adding, “but I no longer can take the pain being away from Maya and being treated like a criminal. I cannot watch my daughter suffer in pain and keep getting worse,” per People.
One of the legal counsels for the Kowalskis, Greg Anderson presented pictures and the suicide note to the jury during the trial.
He also said, “It took about 22 minutes according to pathologists to strangle to death, to kick the stand out from under her.”
He continued that Jack, Rynes, and Kyle thought Beata was in another room sleeping “because they weren't getting along” at the time.
The corpse wasn’t discovered until the next morning.
The legal counsel further stated that he’d be presenting evidence to substantiate the claims that Kowalskis tried to bring Maya back home several times.
After Beata’s death, Jack was given the custody of Maya.
Anderson said, “After that Jack says let my daughter go. If Beata is the big reason here, if she [has] Munchausen-by-proxy, why keep Maya [now that she's dead],” before adding, “It takes another week and a half and Maya is actually told in the hospital that her mom is dead.”
Per Daily Mail, the Kowalski family seeks $55 million in compensatory and $165 million in punitive damages for the case.
