'Take Care of Maya': Photos of plaintiff in $220M hospital lawsuit create controversy amid explosive case
Attorneys for Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital argued that staff intervention that separated Maya Kowalski from her mother allowed the teen's condition to improve
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Lawyers defending Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital (JHAC) in a $220 million medical malpractice lawsuit waged by Maya Kowalski and her family showed jurors photos of the teenager smiling at prom, homecoming and for Halloween.
The 17-year-old, whose story was the subject of the Netflix documentary "Take Care of Maya," is suing the Florida hospital after a saga that led to her mother Beata Kowalski's suicide following accusations of Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
Maya's attorney Gregory Anderson told Court TV on Oct. 27 that the symptoms of his client's complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) — a poorly understood neuropathic condition — have worsened amid the stressors of the ongoing trial.
Due to her "flare-up," the teen was unable to attend court hearings for several days, Anderson said. But attorneys for JHAC showed photos of Maya posing in dresses, heels and even a skimpy angel Halloween costume on Tuesday, saying the snaps of the teen out on the town contradicted those claims.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MAYA KOWALSKI DESCRIBES SEEING MOTHER FOR THE LAST TIME BEFORE SUICIDE: 'UNBELIEVABLY CRUEL'
These photos of Maya Kowalski were reportedly taken during time periods when she was allegedly not well enough to attend court hearings, defense attorneys for Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital said. (Law Office of Ethen Shapiro)
For nearly six weeks, jurors have heard testimony from experts and Maya's doctors and nurses at the Florida hospital.
JHAC called the child abuse hotline after Beata, a registered nurse, insisted that the then-10-year-old Maya needed what the hospital claimed was a dangerously high amount of ketamine to treat a flare-up of her chronic pain in 2016.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Previously, the family told hospital staff, the girl had undergone an experimental ketamine coma in Mexico that has not been approved for treatment in the U.S.
Staff reported Beata for medical child abuse, leading a judge to order Maya's separation from her family in 2016 for more than 80 days. JHAC's attorney Ethen Shapiro told reporters recently that the hospital's intervention is what "[got Maya to] where we see her today — walking in and out of court, going to homecoming, living a more normal teenage life."
"A lot of the world is watching. This is potentially a very chilling case for mandatory reporting," Shapiro said in an audio clip provided to Fox News Digital. "Hopefully by mandatory reporters seeing that we're sticking up for them... [and it] will help affirm their duties."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Maya Kowalski told a Sarasota County court on Tuesday that smiling snapshots of her at homecoming, prom and Halloween when she was allegedly in too much pain to attend court hearings were not indicative of her day-to-day experience with complex regional pain syndrome. (WTVT)
But Maya and her family allege that reporting Beata for Munchausen syndrome by proxy and forcibly separating the family amounted to false imprisonment, medical malpractice and infliction of emotional distress — and led Beata to hang herself in the family's garage in January 2017.
Maya Kowalski's treatments
A doctor who had previously prescribed Maya's ketamine treatments told the court that his prescribed regimen was medically sound — but, in opposition, emeritus professor of anesthesiology and chief of pain management at the Stanford School of Medicine Dr. Elliot Krane told the court this week that the experimental treatment was dangerous and illegal in the U.S.
In previous court hearings, JHAC's attorney Howard Hunter said JHAC believed Maya was "given levels of medication they had never heard of before, that the literature did not support," per earlier reporting by Fox News Digital.
Staff made the call fearing that Maya's mother suffered from Munchausen by proxy and was making her daughter sick, Hunter has argued.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}'TAKE CARE OF MAYA': ALLEGED MEDICAL ABUSE CASE THAT BROKE FAMILY APART HEADS TO TRIAL
"I cried for an hour to my dad before that picture was taken because of how bad my leg pain was," she told jurors on Tuesday. "I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go. That was my physical condition and mental condition." (Sarasota County Clerk)
In court, the teen has said that the ketamine treatment improved symptoms that would leave her screaming in pain.
'TAKE CARE OF MAYA': HOSPITAL'S ACCUSATIONS OF CHILD MEDICAL ABUSE ALLEGEDLY DRIVE MOTHER TO SUICIDE
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Maya Kowalski alleged that her pain level in court was a "seven or eight" — she often masks her symptoms, she said. (Sarasota County Clerk)
Maya's photos
"This is the life of Maya Kowalski today," Shapiro told the court. "We did not aggravate a pre-existing condition. She's at her prom, she's out in heels, has friends — it's in complete contradiction to her testimony.
Several of the social media photos were admitted into evidence despite protests from Maya's attorneys.
Before resting its case, the defense showed video depositions from Maya, her father Jack Kowalski and her uncle Scott Kowalski.
Netflix's "Take Care of Maya" follows the story of Maya Kowalski and her mother, Beata Kowalski — a registered nurse — as they navigate Maya's rare, chronic neurological condition called complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Maya and her family are now suing JHAC for causing undue harm — and pushing Beata to suicide — by reporting the mother for medical child abuse in 2016 and holding Maya involuntarily for more than 80 days. (Netflix/'Take Care of Maya')
Maya said in her deposition that her symptoms have receded – she currently only takes Claritin for allergies and a sleeping pill, she said, and enjoys running, swimming and ice skating.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jack testified that he no longer sees signs of his daughter's alleged CRPS.
But in her rebuttal, Maya told the court that her smiling photos at prom and other events are not proof that she is no longer in pain, and that she often masks her symptoms.
"I cried for an hour to my dad before that picture was taken because of how bad my leg pain was," she told jurors on Tuesday. "I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go. That was my physical condition and mental condition."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Maya Kowalski said she was unsure whether she would be able to attend homecoming due to her intense pain. (Sarasota County Clerk)
The teen explained that she didn't want to disappoint her boyfriend, who had already purchased tickets for the homecoming dance where she was pictured.
"I did not post that picture, meaning the defense went as far as to look up my friends' account," she continued.
Maya Kowalski and her family claim that JHAC's intervention was unnecessary, and amounted to false imprisonment. (Sarasota County Clerk)
Maya testified that her pain level was at a "seven or eight" that day, per courtroom footage. Her current symptoms, she said, include lesions and discolorations in her right leg. She currently experiences involuntary jerking in her body, she said — those jerking motions started "after Johns Hopkins Children's Hospital," she said Tuesday.
Shapiro said after court Tuesday, per a recording shared with Fox News Digital, that he was "very confident" after his closing arguments.
Staff at JHAC suspected that Beata Kowalski was suffering Munchausen syndrome by proxy after she pushed for unapproved ketamine treatment for her daughter's condition. (WTVT)
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JHAC previously told Fox News Digital in a statement that the hospital's priority is "always the safety and privacy" of its "patients and their families."