STORY: 'Take Care of Maya' trial: Dr. Sally Smith testifies for the defense in $220M case,' by FOX 13 News Staff, published on October 26, 2023.
GIST: On Thursday, Dr. Sally Smith testified for the defense in a $220 million case against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital that was the premise for the Netflix documentary ‘Take Care of Maya.’
Dr. Smith worked for All Children’s Hospital, before it was acquired by Johns Hopkins, for 12 years and also worked with the Child Protection Team in Pinellas County.
She noted that the Department of Children and Families does not run the Child Protection Team, but it does ask the team to help with child abuse and neglect allegations and to evaluate if a child’s safety is at risk.
Dr. Smith explained in fall of 2016 she was the medical director for the Child Protection Team and though she did not work for the hospital, she did have medical staff privileges at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital and served as a community representative on several committees at the facility.
She said she became involved in Maya’s case because she received a call from Dr. Beatriz Teppa-Sanchez, who was concerned about a possible case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
During her testimony, Dr. Teppa-Sanchez said Maya was brought to Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in October 2016 for a flare up of pain and noted there was a chaotic scene when Maya and her mother Beata Kowalski were in the pediatric intensive care unit.
She stated she believed Maya was in pain, but nobody could pinpoint the source of the pain.
Dr. Teppa Sanchez also noted that both Maya and her mother kept demanding ketamine to ease pain from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, or CRPS, a condition diagnosed by a doctor not affiliated with Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. That same doctor prescribed the ketamine treatments.
Dr. Teppa Sanchez said the amount of ketamine Maya was receiving alarmed staff as did comments Beata Kowalski made about being stressed out and wanting to die and go to heaven.
The doctor also told jurors that Beata told her Maya wanted to go to heaven as well when she was in pain. The physician said she told Beata Kowalski about resources available to help her and Maya, but Beata Kowalski declined the help.
Dr. Smith said she had no knowledge of Maya before Dr. Teppa Sanchez reached out to her.
Dr. Smith added that she was called upon because over 32 years she had been known to hospital staff as a child abuse expert.
Dr. Smith said she tried to give general advice in terms of how pediatricians can approach potential cases of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, or what she refers to as medical child abuse.
She explained that, in Florida, a social worker, must make a report to a child abuse hotline in order to start an investigation.
Dr. Smith said the call with Dr. Teppa Sanchez was a consultation, and she accessed Maya’ medical records. However, she did not see Maya at that time. She explained she needed to be asked by investigators to provide a medical evaluation.
Staff at the hospital contacted the Child Abuse Hotline and once she was advised of an investigation, Dr. Smith said she was asked to provide a medial evaluation for Maya on behalf of the Child Protection Team to assist the investors looking into allegations of child abuse.
Why was Maya kept in the hospital?
A judge ordered Maya to be sheltered at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, under state custody, while the child abuse allegations were being investigated. She wasn’t allowed to be discharged to her family or another treatment facility and could not see her mother.
Beata Kowalski died by suicide after being kept away from her daughter for 87 days.
Now, the Kowalski family is suing Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital for $220 million claiming its actions led Beata Kowalski to take her own life.
The Kowalskis say Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital medically kidnapped Maya and battered her while in their care.
Dr. Smith said Maya was in the pediatric intensive care unit when she examined the hirl. (sic);
Dr. Smith commented that she never wrote an order or progress note in Maya’ chart, but she did speak with the physicians caring for Maya. She said she saw Maya twice for about 10 minutes each time while she was in the hospital.
Dr. Smith said part of her medical examination was a physical exam and Maya declined.
Dr. Smith said she is also supposed to provide photo documentation for the investigators and in November 2016, she tried to take pictures of Maya’s lower extremities to document the absence of a problem, but she was not able to take the photographs.
Dr. Smith told jurors she took an extensive medical history from Beata Kowalski on October 11, 2016, and had a brief interview with Jack Kowalski on October 13, 2023. She explained she did not speak with the Kowalskis together.
Dr. Smith said two or three child protective investigators, two law enforcement officers were in the room when she interviewed Beata Kowalski on October 11 during a scheduled 90-minute meeting.
Dr. Smith testified that she was not wearing a lab coat when she introduced herself to Beata Kowalski as Dr. Sally Smith with the Child Protection Team. She noted she was wearing her identification badge issued by Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.
Two days later, she met with Jack Kowalski for about 10–15 minutes. For that meeting, Dr. Smith said the bedside nurse and Maya, who was in the pediatric intensive care unit, were the only other people present for that meeting. She added that she was dressed similarly for this meeting.
At that time, Dr. Smith said she was aware that there was an effort to transfer Maya to an in-patient intensive rehab facility, but she was not involved.
On cross-examination, Dr. Smith noted she resigned from the Child Protection Team in July 2022. She also told jurors that she did ask that Maya be taken off all of her medications, so she could see what happened as part of her investigation.
She also added that the treatment team was already weaning her off the medications.
This was the second time the jury heard from Dr. Smith. During the plaintiff's presentation, a video deposition of Dr. Smith was played in the courtroom. In it she stated that she knew that four other physicians had diagnosed Maya with CRPS.
She said she believed Maya’s mother, Beata Kowalski, was committing medical child abuse though she admitted that she had never testified in a case involving CRPS in the past.
"Upon review of all the extensive medical records, observations of the child in the hospital, review of the unconventional treatments including hyperbaric oxygen treatment and high dose ketamine treatment repeatedly. It was my opinion that there was ample evidence of medical child abuse and it appeared Mrs. Kowalski was the primary one who was resulting in instigating or perpetrating child abuse," Dr.Smith stated.
Dr. Smith also said she recalled that Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick, who diagnosed Maya with CRPS and recommended ketamine treatment, advised her not to move forward with allegations that Beata Kowalski was suffering from Munchausen by proxy.
The Kowlaski family reportedly settled their dispute with Dr. Smith and the DCF Suncoast Center."
The entire story can be read at:
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2023
Maya Kolwalski and family: On-going ‘Take Care Of Maya’ Trial: John Hopkins All Children's Hospital Insists that Maya's dead mother had Munchausen By Proxy, The Daily Wire (Reporter Ashe Eschow) reports…"The hospital at the center of a $220 million lawsuit featured in the Netflix documentary “Take Care of Maya” insists that the mother of Maya Kowalski did, in fact, have Munchausen by proxy. On Monday, doctors from Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital testified about why they were concerned that Maya’s mother Beata – who committed suicide in 2016 – was suffering from Munchausen by proxy and exaggerated her daughter’s illness to get attention from healthcare workers, Fox 13 reported. The defense is insisting that Maya did not have Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a condition that causes severe pain, and that Beata was behind her daughter’s illness. Dr. Elvin Mendez, an allergy and immunology specialist, testified that he was concerned Maya’s alleged pain was more psychological. He said he communicated his concerns to her primary physician at least one year before Maya was taken to All Children’s Hospital."
PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Dr. Elvin Mendez, an allergy and immunology specialist, testified that he was concerned Maya’s alleged pain was more psychological. He said he communicated his concerns to her primary physician at least one year before Maya was taken to All Children’s Hospital. From my reading of the documents I received before her second visit, I can only use the words, did not add up,” Mendez said, according to WTSP. Mendez also testified that he had first seen Maya in October 2015 and again in December of that year for a follow-up. He said Beata had brought Maya to him for a second opinion about immunodeficiency concerns and that Beata provided detailed records of Maya’s medical history. Mendez said he requested records from other physicians so he could review them for himself. “I was concerned about Munchhausen Syndrome by proxy at the time because the symptoms of the physical examination, the objective tests that I reviewed in the medical records did not correlate with the story I was getting from mom,” Mendez said on Monday. An attorney for Maya’s family, Jennifer Anderson, told the Herald-Tribune in 2019 that Beata was “an advocate for her daughter.” “And my sense is it struck these ER doctors that we know better than this pushy mom who’s coming in here telling us how to do our job,” Anderson added. Mendez said on Monday that Maya’s blood work and tests showed she had a normal immune system, suggesting a possible psychological component could be behind her illness. He was also concerned about Maya’s alleged “severe asthma,” since it wasn’t consistent. “We have someone with severe asthma admitted to the hospital for a few days and comes out with normal breathing test, and completely normal spirometry. The lungs just don’t work that way,” Mendez said on the stand. Mendez said he didn’t have Maya’s complete medical history so he did not contact the Child Abuse Hotline to report Beata."
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STORY: "Take Care Of Maya' Trial: Hospital Insists Dead Mother Had Munchausen By Proxy," by Reporter Ashe Schow published by The Daily Wire, on October 24, 2023. (Ashe Schow is a reporter and columnist with bylines at the Federalist and the New York Observer. She has previously worked for Real Clear Investigations, the Washington Examiner, and the Heritage Foundation.)
GIST: "The hospital at the center of a $220 million lawsuit featured in the Netflix documentary “Take Care of Maya” insists that the mother of Maya Kowalski did, in fact, have Munchausen by proxy.
On Monday, doctors from Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital testified about why they were concerned that Maya’s mother Beata – who committed suicide in 2016 – was suffering from Munchausen by proxy and exaggerated her daughter’s illness to get attention from healthcare workers, Fox 13 reported.
The defense is insisting that Maya did not have Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a condition that causes severe pain, and that Beata was behind her daughter’s illness.
Dr. Elvin Mendez, an allergy and immunology specialist, testified that he was concerned Maya’s alleged pain was more psychological. He said he communicated his concerns to her primary physician at least one year before Maya was taken to All Children’s Hospital.
From my reading of the documents I received before her second visit, I can only use the words, did not add up,” Mendez said, according to WTSP.
Mendez also testified that he had first seen Maya in October 2015 and again in December of that year for a follow-up.
He said Beata had brought Maya to him for a second opinion about immunodeficiency concerns and that Beata provided detailed records of Maya’s medical history.
Mendez said he requested records from other physicians so he could review them for himself.
“I was concerned about Munchhausen Syndrome by proxy at the time because the symptoms of the physical examination, the objective tests that I reviewed in the medical records did not correlate with the story I was getting from mom,” Mendez said on Monday.
An attorney for Maya’s family, Jennifer Anderson, told the Herald-Tribune in 2019 that Beata was “an advocate for her daughter.”
“And my sense is it struck these ER doctors that we know better than this pushy mom who’s coming in here telling us how to do our job,” Anderson added.
Mendez said on Monday that Maya’s blood work and tests showed she had a normal immune system, suggesting a possible psychological component could be behind her illness. He was also concerned about Maya’s alleged “severe asthma,” since it wasn’t consistent.
“We have someone with severe asthma admitted to the hospital for a few days and comes out with normal breathing test, and completely normal spirometry. The lungs just don’t work that way,” Mendez said on the stand.
Mendez said he didn’t have Maya’s complete medical history so he did not contact the Child Abuse Hotline to report Beata.
Dr. Richard Andrew Elliot testified on Monday that he was concerned by the amount of ketamine Maya was taking as part of her treatment for CRPS.
“I was quite surprised and shocked at the amount of ketamine that was reported,” Elliot said, according to Fox 13. “They were way higher than any doses I had ever seen given to a child.”
Maya was just 9 years old when she started having asthma attacks and headaches. Her symptoms soon evolved to include lesions on her arms and legs, and cramping in her feet, which began to curl so she couldn’t walk without assistance.
Her parents, Jack and Beata, took her to doctors to find out what was wrong with their daughter, with at least one physician thinking the girl’s condition was all in her head.
“But Maya would be crying 24/7,” Jack, 61, told People Magazine in June. “We knew she wasn’t faking.”
Finally, the Kowalskis found Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick, who evaluated Maya and diagnosed her with a rare disorder known as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, an impairment of the nervous system that increases pain sensations – meaning even the slightest stimulus could cause severe pain to Maya.
Kirkpatrick treated Maya and found that the only thing that worked for her condition was monthly infusions of the powerful anesthetic ketamine, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported back in 2019.
There are critics of the diagnosis and treatment since doctors don’t know what causes CRPS or exactly how to treat it, but the ketamine injections allowed Maya to return to life as an ordinary young girl.
All Children’s Hospital contends that it acted in Maya’s best interest by weaning her off medications and following the orders it received from the Department of Children and Families (DCF) after reporting suspected child abuse.’
DCF required the hospital to keep Maya separated from her mother for 87 days.
Maya’s father Jack testified earlier this month that he and his family were told they would be arrested if they removed Maya from the hospital, Fox 13 reported.
Beata, a registered nurse who escaped communist-era Poland, eventually committed suicide, believing that doing so would lead the court to return Maya to her family’s custody.
Just days after Beata took her own life, the case against the Kowalskis was dropped and Maya was allowed to leave the hospital – after keeping her for three months under a court-ordered separation that only allowed Beata to speak to Maya on the phone with someone listening in.
Their devastating phone calls can be heard in the Netflix documentary.
The Kowalskis sued the hospital and Dr. Sally Smith, a pediatrician and part-time medical director of the Pinellas County Child Protection Team, alleging the medical center’s negligence led to Beata’s death, NBC News reported.
“I was medically kidnapped,” Maya, now 17, told People Magazine earlier this year.
“Maya Kowalski was falsely imprisoned and battered. She was denied communication with her family,” attorney Anderson told jurors now that the trial for the lawsuit is finally underway. “She was denied communication with the outside. She was told that her mother was crazy. She was told by social workers, one in particular, that she would be her mother.”
Maya Kowalski, now 17, testified earlier this month that she overheard a conversation between a Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital staff member and her mother, during which the staff member said Maya had never asked to speak with her mother, Beata Kowalski.
“I remember that my mom was on this phone call and the person who she was speaking to … claimed that I never asked to speak to my mom. That I was doing fine. I was okay in my room. I hadn’t had any questions about why my parents weren’t allowed to see me,” Maya testified, according to video posted by Fox 9.
“And that infuriated me so much because all I did for days on end was demand to speak to my parents,” she continued through tears. “That’s all I wanted to do, and I most certainly wasn’t just sitting in my room. I was crying""
The entire story can be read at:
take-care-of-maya-trial-hospital-insists-dead-mother-had-munchausen-by-proxy•
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/47049136857587929
FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices.
Lawyer Radha Natarajan;
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:
David Hammond, one of Broadwater’s attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, “Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it’s the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.”
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