The Maya Kowalski case is a Florida medical malpractice and false imprisonment lawsuit that produced a $261 million jury verdict against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in November 2023, was reversed in full by a state appeals court in October 2025, and is now headed to a narrower retrial scheduled for March 2027. The family sued after the hospital reported Maya’s mother, Beata Kowalski, for suspected medical child abuse in 2016, a report that led to an 87-day separation and Beata’s suicide three months later.
Who Maya Is and Why She Was Hospitalized
Maya Kowalski was diagnosed with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome in 2015 by Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick, a pain management specialist. CRPS is a chronic condition that produces severe burning pain out of proportion to any underlying injury, along with sensitivity to touch, temperature changes, swelling, and tremors. Maya’s symptoms made walking difficult.
Her treatment relied on ketamine infusions, which the family said gave her real relief. Because standard subanesthetic doses did not fully control her flare-ups, the family pursued more aggressive therapy, including a ketamine coma procedure performed in Mexico. That treatment approach became the center of what happened next.
How the Abuse Allegations Started
In October 2016, Maya was admitted to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg for a severe CRPS flare. The medical team grew concerned about the high ketamine doses she had been receiving and about her mother’s insistence on specific protocols. Staff came to suspect medical child abuse, then commonly called Munchausen syndrome by proxy and now known clinically as Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another.
A hospital social worker reported the concerns to the Florida Department of Children and Families. Dr. Sally Smith, then medical director of the Pinellas County child protection team, investigated. The hospital has maintained that its staff followed mandatory reporting laws and acted in Maya’s best interest.
Beata Kowalski’s Death
DCF obtained a court order placing Maya in state custody while she remained hospitalized. Beata was denied physical contact with her daughter for roughly 87 days, and the family’s attempts to regain custody during that stretch failed.
Beata died by suicide in January 2017, about three months after Maya was taken into state custody. Maya was released to her father roughly a week later. Dr. Smith resigned from the Child Protection Team in July 2022. Before the main trial began, the Kowalski family separately settled its claims against Dr. Smith and the DCF Suncoast Center.
The Lawsuit and the $261 Million Verdict
The Kowalski family sued Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital on seven counts: false imprisonment of Maya, battery for administering treatment over parental objection, fraudulent billing, medical negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress on both Maya and Beata, and a wrongful death claim on behalf of Beata’s estate arguing the hospital’s conduct contributed to her suicide.1FindLaw. Kowalski v. Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital
The battery claim relied on a basic principle. Touching a patient without authorization is battery even when the treatment helps them, so when a parent explicitly refuses a specific course of treatment for their child, providing it anyway without a court order can be battery no matter how well-intentioned the medical team.
The eight-week trial ran through fall 2023. The family argued the hospital wrongfully separated Maya from her mother and withheld appropriate care. The hospital argued its staff acted reasonably, followed mandatory reporting duties, and prioritized Maya’s welfare; it also argued that Maya’s distress came from her illness rather than the hospital’s conduct and that Beata’s suicide was not a foreseeable result of what the staff did.
On November 9, 2023, the Sarasota County jury found the hospital liable on all seven counts and awarded $261 million: $211 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages.1FindLaw. Kowalski v. Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital The hospital appealed to Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal.
Why the Appeals Court Threw Out the Verdict
In October 2025, the Second District Court of Appeal reversed the entire verdict and vacated the judgment. The ruling turned on Florida’s child abuse reporting immunity statute, which shields any person or institution “participating in good faith in any act authorized or required” by the state’s child welfare laws from civil or criminal liability.2Justia Law. Florida Code 39.203 – Immunity From Liability in Cases of Child Abuse, Abandonment, or Neglect
The appeals court identified three errors by the trial judge. The trial court did not apply the full scope of the immunity statute when deciding which claims should reach the jury, and the panel concluded that many of the hospital’s actions were protected good-faith participation in the child protection process. The trial court also allowed emotionally charged testimony and argument that blurred the line between legally immune acts and potentially actionable conduct. And punitive damages should never have gone to the jury, because the evidence did not support intentional misconduct or gross negligence.1FindLaw. Kowalski v. Johns Hopkins All Childrens Hospital
The reversal wiped out several of the family’s claims outright. The wrongful death claim for Beata’s estate, the intentional infliction of emotional distress claim brought on Beata’s behalf, the fraudulent billing claim, and all punitive damages are gone. The appeals court permitted a new trial on a narrower set: Maya’s own intentional infliction of emotional distress claim, false imprisonment, battery, and medical negligence.
What the 2027 Retrial Will Cover
The retrial is scheduled for March 2027 and is expected to last four to five weeks, significantly shorter than the original eight-week trial. It will be limited to false imprisonment, battery, medical negligence, and Maya’s own emotional distress claim. Punitive damages are off the table. The hospital’s legal team has said it will “vigorously defend” its doctors and staff, and the family’s attorneys have said they “will persevere.” No settlement has been publicly reported as of early 2026.
Patterson’s Law and the Documentary’s Role
Much of the public familiarity with the case comes from the Netflix documentary “Take Care of Maya,” released in June 2023, several months before the verdict. It covered Maya’s illness, the abuse allegations, and Beata’s death, and it drove sustained social media attention through the trial.
The case also spurred legislation in Florida. A bill known as Patterson’s Law, filed as SB 42 and HB 57, would give parents the right to request an independent medical examination by a licensed physician when child abuse is suspected but the parent points to an underlying medical condition. An earlier version cleared all its committee stops with unanimous support before dying on the Florida Senate floor, and the bill was refiled for the 2026 session. If it passes, it would create a procedural safeguard that did not exist when Maya was hospitalized in 2016, letting families present medical evidence of a diagnosed condition earlier in the process.