‘Take Care of Maya’: Appeals court reverses $208M judgement against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital
SARASOTA, Fla. – Nearly two years after a judge awarded more than $200M to Maya Kowalski and her family, an appeals court reversed the decision in favor of Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.
On Wednesday, the court announced its decision in a nearly 50-page document, finding that the ‘hospital acted in good faith in its participation with child protection activities.’
The backstory:
Maya Kowalski’s family sued Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital for $220 million, claiming its actions led family matriarch Beata Kowalski to take her own life.
Their story was the subject of a Netflix documentary called ‘Take Care of Maya.”
The family said 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, a disease she was diagnosed with by a doctor not affiliated with the hospital.
Maya said she had been receiving ketamine to treat the pain and even underwent a ketamine coma in Mexico. While at the hospital, Beata Kowalski insisted that Maya receive ketamine treatments, but hospital staff did not agree.
Maya Kowalski in the hospital.
Beata Kowalski’s 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.
A judge ordered Maya to be sheltered at the medical facility under state custody while allegations of child abuse were investigated. The judge said Maya was not allowed to have physical contact with her mother.
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After 87 days without seeing her daughter, Beata Kowalski died by suicide.
Pictured: Beata and Maya Kowalski
The trial lasted eight weeks, during which jurors heard from the Kowalski family, doctors, nurses and experts. The jury found the hospital liable on all seven counts – including false imprisonment, medical negligence, battery, fraud and intentionally inflicting emotional distress on the family – reaching its $261 million verdict in November 2023.
The Sarasota County judge who presided over the case later reduced the damages to $208 million.
Attorneys for Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital said the fight wasn’t over. In January 2024, the judge rejected a motion for a new trial. Soon after, the hospital filed an appeal.
Pictured: Maya Kowalski in November 2023.
Judgement reversed in ‘Take Care of Maya’ case
Dig deeper:
The document released on Wednesday, also stated that the trial court misapplied Chapter 39 immunity, which protects the duty to report suspicions of child abuse and good faith participation in child protection activities and was ‘immune from civil. . . liability which might otherwise result by reason of its action.’
The three-judge panel wrote in the ruling that the lower court’s interpretation of intentional infliction of emotional distress was wrong.
When it came to awarding punitive damages, the documents state that, “There was no clear and convincing evidence that JHACH actively and knowingly participated in or engaged in intentional misconduct or gross negligence,” and found that the court erred in submitting the punitive damages claims to the jury.
They also agreed that the Circuit Judge should have given the hospital a new trial or a directed verdict. That’s where a judge, not a jury, decides the case.
What they’re saying:
In a statement to FOX 13, Ethen Shapiro of Hill Ward Henderson said:
“After careful, rigorous review of the case and the law, the Second District Court of Appeals delivered a resounding opinion in support of Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, vacating the full $213 million judgment. This opinion sends a clear and vital message to mandatory reporters in Florida and across the country that their duty to report suspicions of child abuse and, critically, their good faith participation in child protection activities remain protected. The facts and the law have always prioritized protecting children, the most vulnerable among us. We look forward to vigorously defending our doctors, nurses, and staff in a fair trial on the few remaining claims after rigorous and proper application of immunity. We thank the judges for their time and attention to this matter, and we appreciate that they understood what many did not: that a one-sided movie is no substitute for a fair judicial process.”
The Kowalski family’s attorney also released the following statement:
“We’re disappointed by the decision, but the Kowalskis will persevere. Judge Smith’s concurring opinion emphasized Johns Hopkins’ outrageous actions towards Maya, and the next jury will see things just like the first one did. Johns Hopkins was ‘in charge of caring for and treating Maya. Instead, they exploited their position with full knowledge that Maya, a ten-year-old child, would not be able to endure such outrageous conduct.’”
Will there be a retrial?
What’s next:
In the document released on Wednesday, the court found that there are a few remaining claims that are eligible for a retrial. The claims would now need to undergo a rigorous and proper application of Chapter 39 immunity, and the plaintiffs would not be able to pursue punitive damages, as the court found that there is insufficient evidence to do so on any of the remaining claims.
The Source: This article was written with information provided in court documents and previous FOX 13 News stories.
Maya KowalskiSarasota
