The 17-year-old who won a medical malpractice case against a Florida facility that kept her away from her mother, who later took her own life, said the jury’s decision vindicated her late father.
“No amount of money would replace my mother, so honestly, we were happy to get a yes, we were happy to have our prayers answered,” Maya Kowalski told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo after a Florida jury awarded her family the staggering sum of 261 million dollars. in her lawsuit against Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.
Last week, the panel ruled that the hospital wrongfully separated Kowalski from her mother and awarded the family a whopping $261 million for a series of crimes, including wrongfully placing the young woman under video surveillance for 48 consecutive hours. and forcing her to strip down to shorts and a training bra for a photograph.
Kowalski, whose case was featured in the popular Netflix documentary “Take Care of Maya,” told Cuomo that the jury’s decision would have meant “everything” to her mother.
“My mom was the type of person who, when she was right, was going to prove it,” he said. “Unfortunately, she is not here to carry that out. But we are here and we do it. And we agreed with him.”
Kowalski had been admitted to the hospital in October 2016 by her mother for treatment of a painful neurological condition known as chronic regional pain syndrome.
Maya Kowalski said her late mother was vindicated by a jury’s decision to award her $261 million in her medical malpractice lawsuit against a Florida hospital. Law&Crime Network
Her mother, Beata Kowalski, demanded that her daughter receive aggressive ketamine treatment, an approach she said had previously alleviated her symptoms.
Doctors, however, believed Kowalski Sr. was fabricating symptoms and suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, in which a parent fabricates a child’s symptoms to gain sympathy and attention.
Hospital staff contacted Florida child welfare authorities and the girl was soon removed from her parents’ care and placed under the involuntary ward of the state.
The jury found that Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg wrongfully separated Kowalski from her mother. Google Maps
Three months later, a distraught Beata Kowalski hanged herself in her garage.
Kowalski’s attorney, Nick Whitney, said that when Maya was in custody at the hospital, the facility failed to protect her from “internal abusers” and social workers who “took advantage of her vulnerability.”
On Friday, Kowalski filed a criminal complaint with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Department related to the hospital, alleging she was sexually abused there.
Beata Kowalski demanded that her daughter receive aggressive ketamine treatment for her rare neurological condition. Courtesy of Netflix
Howard Hunter, an attorney for Johns Hopkins, said the hospital will appeal the jury’s verdict.
“The evidence clearly showed that Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital followed Florida’s mandatory reporting law in reporting suspicions of child abuse and, when those suspicions were upheld by the district court, was in full compliance with the Department of Children and Families (DCF). and court orders,” Hunter said. saying.
In response to the criminal complaint, Johns Hopkins attorney Ethen Shapiro said the allegations arose during the trial.
“As soon as the hospital learned of the allegations, and in accordance with their policies, they immediately launched an internal investigation and contacted authorities last month,” Shapiro said.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn