EP41: Medical Kidnapping and Ketamine
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All right, welcome back to another episode of the Psychopedia podcast. I am your co-host, Tank Sinatra, here with my partner in true crime. Investigators later. I'm still back and forth between co-host and partner in true crime every single time. You usually now default to partner in true crime. No, I do not. Last week, you did not. No, I do not default to partner in true crime. It is a struggle every single time. Really? Yeah. You nail it, though. Except last week. Last week, you did not.

I said co-host because I got embarrassed in front of Alexis. No, I didn't. I don't know what happened. I was just trying to like, it was our second time recording. I was like, let's just fucking, let's just go here. If you don't know what we're talking about, we did an episode with Alexis Linkletter, the co-host of The First Degree and the host of Unraveled, Long Island Serial Killer. And she was cool as fuck. She really was. She really was. She was very, very good in...

In this mix. Yeah, absolutely. Of ours. She was like a natural. I hope she becomes a permanent part of our podcast. Forever? Yeah. Forever ever? Yeah. I think she did a great job and I loved it. And I think people liked it. I think so too. Yeah. I think I had a great time with her. So I would welcome her back any old time. And if they didn't, it's not Arsha business. Nice.

So listen, first of all, I have to say, I haven't said this in so long. I keep leaving it till the end of the episode and I get so mad at myself. Rate the podcast because we fucking love them. Rate and review is the same word. It's anonymous. And subscribe because we're going to start possibly, probably doing, definitely doing more, you know, little throw-ins here and there and you don't want to miss them. And it helps us in the algorithm and it's us against the machines.

And we're losing. We're not losing. Well, we're losing the battle against the machines in general as a society. Oh, this just got like esoteric. Yeah. I don't mean we're losing because we have you guys, you little psychos behind us. God, yeah. We are winners with them in our freaking court.

I feel like that Irish blessing thing finally came true, like the wind is at my back. I don't know it. It's a good one. May the wind always be at your back. That's the only part I remember. The wind beneath my wings? No. No. That's a Bette Midler song. It crushed. Yeah, it was good back then. I used to play it on piano. Did you? Yeah. Wow, I'd like to hear that. No, you wouldn't. You're such a liar. You are the wind beneath my wings. Wait, wait.

Do you remember that part? Yes. I used to go off in middle school at that part. Wow. Nice job. Everyone forgets about that part. Yeah, well. That was the best part. You just revived it. Yeah, thank you. The fuck was I saying? Oh, yeah. We're losing against the machines, and I don't know why. Yeah.

I can't figure it out for the life of me. It can't be because I can't keep a thought in my head for more than a half a second. It has nothing to do with that. Nothing to do with that. So listen, no pressure. Obviously, if you've already reviewed and you're already subscribed, cool. You could be doing more. You could be sharing it with people.

But, you know, whatever. You just reminded me of a terrible story. So my father came to watch my twin sister and I play softball when we were younger. And my sister, bless her brilliant heart, was not an athlete. Yeah. But she hit a triple. Wow. And it was absolutely magnificent. My father goes...

just picture if you could have ran or run a little bit faster, it would have been a home run. Wow. Thanks dad. Dude, what about all the great shit that just happened? I just hit a triple. Little does he know that a triple is the hardest hit to get. Is it now? Oh yeah. Wow. I didn't know that. Well,

Because a home run goes over the fence. So it's the furthest hit, but it's not, I'm speaking in like baseball terms, but for a triple to happen, you got to put it in such a great part of the field and be so fast. I feel like there has to be a fielding error for there to be a triple. No, it just could be like a, like a real in the pocket hit. That's like goes right in between two of the fielders in the outfield or all the way into a corner. Usually like, I think a triple happens when they hit it to the corner of the

which is the furthest away from third base. God, I haven't been to a baseball game in so long.

long. We went to so many this summer. Yeah. Dave and the kids went, I was prepping for psychopedia most of the time. Oh, you had stuff to do. That's unfortunate. Sorry to hear that. But our little psychos have benefited tremendously and our, our semen demons and our little freaks over at Patreon, patreon.com slash psychopedia pod. If you love us and you love us so much that you're, you're not getting a fill here. There's more stuff over there. There's an episode every week where we're

It's called Psychopedia Unhinged, and it's exactly what it sounds like, where we barely talk about a case that we've done in the past, and I just kind of drain of thought. Yeah, you check out. It's in a great way. I do. There's a review that I saw come in that I just couldn't stop reading over and over again. Which one?

Adieu, doozy, shabizness. You saw that one, right? I can see why. Well, something, you know, I don't want to read the whole thing. I hope you two realize how far and wide your podcast reaches. This little apple polishing note, I don't even know what that means, is coming at you from Cape Town, South Africa. So it's like, wow. Wow.

Wow. Found you chaps via Heart Starts Pounding. So shout out to Heart Starts Pounding. The dulcet tones of the marvelous brain that's Investigator Slater flowing through my ear holes with her incredibly in research and an amazing edited for the episode duration is a pleasure to listen to learn to. I don't know. Wow. Yeah. She just, she put me to shame. And she did. Those words. Thank you to whoever wrote that.

And then they said, so the pairing of Mr. Tank's interjections, observations, and mildly average PQ performance, fuck yourself, said with love, is simply the meat to my bread roll. There's a lot of sayings in there that I feel like I want to incorporate into my everyday vernacular. I feel like what you really like in that review is that she called you Mr. Tank. Oh, it was all meat to my bread roll. She gave you your propers. Yeah, it was mostly meat to my bread roll. Okay. Because I don't know what that means. And I want to know bad.

So without further ado, do Zisha business. Let's get into this week's case. And as always, I have no idea what's about to come at me. And I'm a little scared, but also very excited. All right. Let's go. I want to give you a pre intro. Okay. Okay. So I heard about this case when one of my paralegals at work,

brought it to my attention. All right. And we were texting about it. So I'm going to start off by reading our text exchange. It's only three back and forth. So I'm not going to like boggle you down just to give you some insight into how we both feel about this case and how I felt just off the bat doing a very, very preliminary amount of research on it. Yeah. All right. Why are you laughing already? Did the text say anything about Brian's fucking hat or no?

About Brian's fucking hat? What? That is for the hardcore I think you should leave fans. Okay. There's a sketch where these people are on trial for insider trading and they're reading the text and they're like, you know, I heard the stock is going down. I have an inside tip. Please sell all the shares. And also, did you see Brian's stupid fucking hat? And then Brian's in the courtroom with like a hat that like has flaps on it. He's like, what the hell? It's really funny actually.

No, this is definitely... Why they put it on the record, I'll never know. This is a much more sobering text exchange, okay? Okay. Her name is Julia, and I am obviously Slater, so here we go. Hi, Julia. Slater. This is one of the most emotionally difficult cases we've done yet. Holy shit. I feel paralyzed. This is devastating. I want their story told. Julia. All I read was one article, but my jaw kept dropping further, so I can't even imagine. Okay.

Slater, I'm going to step away for a minute and then dive in headfirst. Wish me luck. I want to do this right. They deserve it. Oh, that's just a little back and forth. That sounds bad. It's just a different type of case for us. Okay. All right. I'm not going to plant any seeds. We're going to get into it in one second. Yeah. But it hits and it's very relevant and it's very timely.

This all just happened relatively recently. Really? Okay. And yeah, I just, the deeper I went, obviously the harder it hit, but even just doing like a cursory glance through the case when Julia told me about it, I was stunned. Okay. All right. So now we're going to go. Can't wait to be stunned. In the immaculate, sterile corridors of hospitals and clinics where trust meets trepidation and desperation collides with authority, the

A chilling phenomenon looms like a shadow behind every corner for every patient. Picture, if you will, the nightmarish scenario in which the very institutions sworn to heal and protect have instead become agents of doom. As an innocent patient, unwell and vulnerable, you are forced to engage in a sinister dance with ostensibly well-intentioned healthcare professionals who suddenly stop hearing you.

Stop seeing you as an individual with a voice and agency and instead ensnare you in an unending, labyrinthine, bureaucratic nightmare, fraught with trauma and uncertainty. You are instead a mere pawn caught within the oppressive clutches of that ominous and ever-present shadow. Today's case may not feature a serial killer or depraved psychopath, but is nonetheless a

What? Let's begin.

Over the July 4th weekend in 2015, a nine-year-old little girl named Maya Kowalski suffered an asthma attack while playing with her younger brother, Kyle, near their home in Venice, Florida. Maya's parents frantically rushed her over to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, where her symptoms not only escalated, but transformed into a horrific burning sensation radiating down both of her legs and feet. From asthma to radiating? Right. Right.

Maya's little feet suddenly turned inward so that her toes were all facing. Her legs became incapable of supporting her body, and she developed open lesions on her skin. How? What? Days after that initial visit to the hospital following what started out as an asthma attack, Maya could barely lift her arms without wincing in agony. Oh my God. Weeks after that, she could barely walk.

Months after that, her entire family was ripped apart. And a year and a half after that, her mother was found dead.

This is the absolutely outrageous case of Maya Kowalski, a sick little girl who, in the face of tremendous and mysterious physical adversity, was also, according to some physicians and social workers, said to be the victim of what is referred to as medical child abuse. Maya Kowalski, you said? Yes. I know all about this case. I've seen a lot of videos on it. Really? No. Oh, come on, man.

Damn. That one hurt, huh? Yeah. Over the course of just one and a half years, Maya went from being a happy, healthy, flourishing child to enduring the most unthinkable forms of emotional torment, psychological anguish, institutional bullying, false imprisonment, and very questionable legal intervention.

So Maya Kowalski was born on December 10th, 2005 in St. Petersburg, Florida to her parents, Beata and Jack Kowalski. By all accounts, the beginning of Maya's young life was picture perfect. She and her younger brother, Kyle, were being raised in a beautiful palm tree encased home by two loving parents who worked hard to provide the family with everything they needed to thrive. Florida. And I'm sorry, how old was she when this happened again? Nine. Do you remember?

Oh, my God. Beata worked as a registered nurse, and Jack was a retired deputy fire chief who enjoyed and earned the luxury of being able to spend a lot of time with his young children as they grew up. Home videos spanning the first nine years of Maya's life offer a glimpse into the life of a close-knit family. The videos depict a loving and active household that frequently engaged in outdoor activities within the sunny landscape of Florida.

These videos capture the joyous moments of holidays, vacations, and countless birthdays celebrated throughout the years. But everything changed when Maya's health took an unexpected and drastic turn, inexplicably shifting from overall good health to near-death sickness following the aforementioned asthma attack on July 3rd, 2015. It's so scary. It's terrifying. Because after being taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital,

Maya suddenly began to experience an excruciating and unrelenting burning sensation in both her legs and feet, which I mentioned. Within a mere matter of weeks, Maya's ability to walk deteriorated to the point where her feet, as I mentioned, turned inward and she could no longer bear the weight of her own body. Additionally, I mentioned she had lesions that now marred her once vibrant and healthy skin.

Oh.

This debilitating condition also left her unable to raise her arms beyond a certain point, further contributing towards the overall collapse of her health and well-being. That's so weird to hear that in a nine-year-old person. Yes, it is. I have a friend whose son was born with low muscle tone. It's like, you know, obviously very difficult for this kid. He didn't walk until he was like three.

Can't do most stuff. He just doesn't have enough muscle on his body, but not. Sudden onset. Yeah. That's scary. Very naturally. The Kowalski family sought answers. They went to Johns Hopkins, all children's hospital in St. Petersburg, which is a renowned pediatric acute care children's hospital ranked as the number one children's hospital in Florida by us news and world report in

Incredibly, however, the medical staff remained perplexed by Maya's symptoms and could not provide a conclusive diagnosis. So, Beata and Jack transferred Maya to Tampa General Hospital, where doctors initially attributed her muscle weakness to an oral steroid prescribed to treat her asthma attack. But this didn't feel like a suitable explanation to Beata, who was not only Maya's mother, but also a registered infusion nurse.

Subsequently, at the recommendation of one of Beata's patients, whose child faced a comparable acute pain condition, Beata and Jack sought advice from a local anesthesiologist and pain management specialist named Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick as their initial step towards finding real answers. Dr. Kirkpatrick ran a center in Tampa that studied complex regional pain syndrome, or CRPS for short.

Formerly known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy, CRPS is a broad term describing excessive and prolonged pain and inflammation that can occur following an injury or other medical event such as surgery or trauma, stroke, or a heart attack.

I should preface all of this. Obviously, I'm not a medical professional. So anything that I'm communicating in the way of this condition and anything else we go on to discuss in terms of diagnosis is obviously based on research. CRPS has acute, which means recent or short term, and chronic, which means lasting greater than six months forms. If you have CRPS, you will have changing combinations of spontaneous pain or excess pain that is much greater than normal following something as mild as a touch.

Other symptoms may include sensory abnormalities, changes in skin color, temperature, swelling of the limbs, and or muscle weakness and atrophy. The truth is, is that the exact cause of CRPS is not well understood, but it's believed to involve a combination of factors, including abnormal nervous system responses, inflammation, and changes in blood flow.

CRPS can be extremely debilitating and very, very challenging to treat. It often requires a multidisciplinary approach, including pain management, physical therapy, and psychological support. Because sadly, CRPS tops the McGill Pain Index, a recognized measure of physical suffering and is ominously referred to as the suicide disease due to the limited treatment options available and the severity of the pain.

the pain experienced by people who have it. So understandably, when Dr. Kirkpatrick officially diagnosed Maya with CRPS, Beata and Jack were devastated and overwhelmed and confused. But then Dr. Kirkpatrick introduced them to a promising, albeit unconventional remedy for Maya's new and all-consuming illness. And that was ketamine infusions.

Ketamine is a disassociative anesthetic that was approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the FDA, in 1970 and was also the most common anesthetic used in the Vietnam War, which I thought was interesting. I thought it was morphine. Wasn't it designed for felines? Ketamine? That did not come up in my research, but I also didn't... I didn't dive too much into the origin. Did you find in your research that I did a whole thing of ketamine outside of Neptunes once and almost died? No. What?

Quick story. I got kicked out of Neptune's for doing cocaine. Okay. The bouncers do not fuck around there. They didn't beat me up, which is good because I just like, I was like, yep, I'm yep. I'm you got me. I'm I'm out. Like I'm leaving. There was like 80 of them and they were all juice heads and so angry. They beat the shit out of everybody. Anyway, I get kicked out. I run into a guy outside who doesn't look like me at all, but can't get in because he doesn't have his license on him. He goes, yo, let me use your license. I go, no,

No. He's like, I'll give you an entire jar of K. I was like, oh yeah, here you go. Cool. I'll just do this and walk around. I was on another planet and I finally, I don't know what happened. I have no idea. It's such a dangerous, it's called a club drug, obviously. Awful. It's so dangerous. Yeah. It's dangerous because it has a hallucinogenic effect.

It has disassociative effects. Dissociative. That's what I did. Yes. Yeah. Right. Which is what makes it a popular club drug. Yeah. By the way, mom, I'm okay. Oh. You know, don't retroactively worry. He's come very far. Yeah. I made it. My dad works in B2B marketing. He came by my school for career day and said he was a big ROAS man. Then he told everyone how much he loved calculating his return on ad spend.

So

So pharmaceutical ketamine is used for anesthesia and sedation and specific medical procedures. And when injected for this purpose, it works quickly and can wear off quickly depending on the specific dose and route of administration. Meaning if it's injected, orally consumed, snorted, or smoked, which it wouldn't be obviously in the medical context. Here, snort this. Now, a

Again, I'm not a medical professional, right? But I did call my brother-in-law who is an anesthesiologist largely focusing on children. Yeah. He actually sedated my son before my son needed a Rucanil. And I asked him whether or not he'd ever used ketamine to sedate a child. And he said, yes, and it's absolutely safe in small dosages. Ketamine is proven to have several mechanisms of action that make it beneficial in the management of CRPS.

It can block pain receptors, reduce inflammation, reset an overactive nervous system, and alter the perception of pain in the brain, making it less intense or more manageable. Good. The problem, as we just mentioned, or concern with ketamine, as my brother-in-law also explained,

is that there's no reverse agent for it. So if too much is administered and there's essentially an overdose, it can be fatal. Oh, yeah. And of course, it has the potential for abuse and for both psychological and physical dependence. I was actually administered ketamine during my C-section because the epidural wore off and I suddenly felt everything. They didn't give you morphine? No, ketamine. Did they turn the disco ball on? It may have sure seemed like it. I was like, this is great.

Yeah, I'm going to have another baby. So regarding the treatment of Maya with ketamine infusions, remember she's nine. Right.

Wait, hold on a second. I'm so sorry. You're awake during a C-section? Of course. What do you mean, of course? I'm sorry. You're right. That probably sounds ludicrous to you. That sounds insane to me. Oh my God. It was, you're awake for the entire thing. It's waist down that you're numbed. Oh my God. Oh yeah. I'm 43 years old. I did not know that. I always felt like

I swear to God, if someone was like, oh, the pregnancy was like, I wasn't able to deliver. So I got a C-section. In my mind, I was always like, oh, so you got off easy. Oh, motherfucker. I don't know. It's major abdominal surgery, homie. I thought you were knocked out. No, it doesn't even matter because the recuperation is legit. So nobody gets off easy when they have a C-section. Well, I thought they found a cheat code. Okay. Pregnancy. Sit down. I was ignorant. Now I'm not. Okay, you're right.

You are fully awake during a C-section. You can hear everything. Oh, no. You can smell everything. I could smell them burning my skin open. No, no, no, no, no. Yep. Did not know that. Wow, that's fucking hectic. Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah, and then they put the baby in your arms. You're alert. You're awake. That's a maelstrom right there. Yeah, nice word. Yeah. Who'd you learn that from? Investigators later. Two episodes ago, I believe. Yep.

Okay, so again, regarding the treatment of Maya with ketamine infusions, Beata agreed that they should attempt it after numerous other treatment recommendations by doctors failed, ranging from water therapy to oxygen chambers. Over the course of the next year, Maya received ketamine infusions every three to four weeks at 1,000 milligrams a dose. For comparison, procedural sedation for a nine-year-old on average is about 90 to 150 milligrams.

according to my brother-in-law, with each session taking place over a four-day period and costing $10,000 a pop. Not at all covered by insurance, by the way. That's a laid-up number, by the way. What's that, $10,000? Yeah, it's bullshit.

Could be. I don't know enough to comment on it. I've seen hospital bills where they charge you like $1,200 for an aspirin. It's insane. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Speaking of my C-section, $120,000 bills. We were like, what the fuck is this? Yeah, it's so out of control. It's so out of control.

And meanwhile, the whole reason why I needed a C-section was because the doctor didn't realize that my son was facing the wrong way and had me pushing for three and a half hours with his head smashing against my pelvic bone. He was sunny side up? Yes, exactly the phrase, yes. That's how my youngest son was. But they obviously managed to turn him because Jessica didn't have a C-section. They couldn't turn him for me. He came out with a bruise on his head. What?

And I was severely traumatized for a while. Yeah. Okay. Just about the insurance thing. I had to get something once, a mouthpiece for sleep apnea, which I actually don't have. I got the first one. I said to the guy, because my dog at the time was eating everything. I said, how much is it going to be when I need to replace this when my dog inevitably eats it? He goes, we bill insurance $7,000.

But if you need to buy it yourself cash, it's like $1,500. And I was like, that's fucked up. But okay, I didn't say that. I was like, oh, cool. All right. I hope my dog doesn't eat it. I don't want to have to pay for another one. My dog did eat it. Fast forward. I paid $300 for it. At the same place? Same guy. He just arbitrarily said $300, whereas the time before he said it would be $1,500? No, I guess he was like, it probably really cost them like $40 to make. Yeah.

No, but that's what I'm saying. He just changes the amounts as he wants? Well, according to insurance, they're

They're going to try and bang insurance for as much as possible, which is why our insurance premiums go up 10, 15% every fucking year. Every, I know fail, which is insane. But anyway, can I just tell you something? You can probably go on Amazon and get yourself a mouth guard that you boil. It was, it was, oh yeah, it was, it was molded and it was good. It helped me sleep. But then my dog ate it cause he's a piece of shit.

To cover the astronomical cost of these treatments, Fiata took on extra work shifts and she and Jack sold a rental property. Obviously, as parents, we would do anything, anything to do for our children what they need to not be in pain. The family also took an

extremely drastic measure in hopes of healing or at least treating the symptoms of Maya's condition. Pop quiz? Pop quiz. I fucking am so in tune. Yeah. What drastic measure did they take? A. They went to a holistic medicinal shaman in Peru. B. They went to Mexico to induce a five-day ketamine-infused coma. C. They went to a

They went on the dark web slash black market to obtain 15,000 milligrams of off-label ketamine. C. False. Fine. Don't get mad. A.

No. Well, then I guess there's only one choice left. Nailed that one. They went to Mexico and put her in a coma? They flew down to Hospital San Jose Tecnológico in Monterey, Mexico. Ay, Dios mío. In November 2015 to undergo the most expensive and controversial treatment yet for Maya, a five-day ketamine-infused coma, which bore a 50% risk of...

of death. Oh my God. This extreme form of treatment was considered a success at the time, albeit undeniably risky, but it worked. 50% chance of death is pretty fucking. I mean, I'm not so sure that I would roll the dice. However, digressing and changing my mind instantly, which is what I do. Um, if your child is sitting there in agony every second of every day, I've seen Jack

Her dad speak on interviews and he basically said at the time, nothing computed except getting their child help and out of pain. She was not exactly right. She was not living. She was surviving and barely. Barely in tremendous amounts of pain. Nine year old kid doesn't have the frame of reference to deal with pain usually for the most part.

No, yeah. Yeah. Do whatever you got to do. Despite still needing to use a wheelchair, the ketamine treatments did in fact yield significant progress. Maya's feet straightened, her lesions healed, and there were times when her discomfort appeared to be more manageable.

They also discovered a more budget-friendly anesthesiologist and pain management specialist, Dr. Ashraf Hanna from the Florida Spine Institute, with whom Maya commenced treatment. Oh, in Florida? In Florida. Okay. The only thing they did down in Mexico was that five-day coma. Yeah. Everything else was now being treated in Florida, originally by Dr. Kirkpatrick and now by Dr. Hanna. All in all, things were looking up until they started looking down. Because in the middle of the night... Wow, what a turn of phrase there. Yeah.

Oh my God. I can be really profound. Yeah.

Things were looking up until guess what? That's like, um, they started looking down like a fake Morgan Freeman meme documentary line. Well, somebody said that our podcast was like, they're like, I got tired of the, he was good until he wasn't brand of true crime podcast. Sorry to whoever said that. I just threw you a line. It was great. That'll be, I want to get a t-shirt.

In the middle of the night on October 6th, 2016, now 10-year-old Maya woke up with severe abdominal pain and vomiting, which necessitated an emergency visit to John Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg. Maya spent the next 24 hours in the intensive care unit screaming, writhing, and acutely sensitive to stimuli of all kinds. So I'm so sad for this girl. Oh, it's devastating.

She encountered the all-too-familiar sensation of radiating pain throughout her legs and feet, rendering her once again completely unable to walk and barely able to lift her arms. When a nurse attempted to conduct an ultrasound on Maya, Beata insisted that the only way Maya would be able to even tolerate the contact needed to conduct the test was if she was administered a very high-dose IV infusion of ketamine.

And this is when the medical staff at All Children's Hospital were first alerted to the reality that a child of Maya's tender age was consistently receiving a notably elevated dose of one of the most potent disassociative anesthetics available. Additionally, according to the doctors at All Children's Hospital,

Beata displayed an unusually strong, concerning, and somewhat hostile level of involvement in her daughter's illness. She persistently and at times aggressively advocated for the administration of exceptionally high doses of ketamine to manage Maya's pain. Beata explained how intense and excruciating Maya's pain had become and how life with all

All of its sights and sounds and sensory-infused experiences was too much for Maya to bear without that drug. She provided examples of how the sound of church bells ringing actually prohibited Maya from being able to attend services. The droplets of water hitting her body from a shower felt like hundreds of searing hot needles piercing her skin.

Yeah, you listen to the doctors when your kid's in that much pain. You don't know. You didn't go to medical school. Just trust. Right. And their doctors, and it's good for you to hang on to this, are the ones who are going to

are the ones who prescribed that medication. Yeah. But now you have a new set of doctors questioning that. Yeah. And listen, doctors are, for the most part, to be trusted. However, there are, like, obviously some doctors out there who don't know what the fuck they're doing. This is life. Yeah. You cannot categorize everything

every single person the same way. Not every police officer is good. Not every police officer is corrupt. You know what I mean? Not every priest is a religious, you know, devout man of God. Not every priest is a pedophile. Not every true crime podcast that calls itself a criminy podcast is actually funny. God, yes. Exactly. Exactly. There you go. Yeah. You actually got one in. I got it. For that point.

At this point in the case, Maya's hospital report indicated that she had not been in any actual physical pain at all. Furthermore, the question of Beata's mental health was officially raised. Oh my God. You see where this is going? It was at this point when hospital staff took a bold step and filed an abuse report, the

The following day, hospital staff took the additional step of reaching out to the medical director for the child protection team at All Children's Hospital, a woman named Dr. Sally Smith, after alleging that Beata was advocating for her daughter to be administered a seemingly outrageous dose of a controlled substance. According to Jack, when Dr. Smith arrived at Maya's room, she neither introduced herself to the family nor indicated the true purpose of her presence.

They assumed she was another physician on Maya's care team performing a standard check-in, but this was not the case. She was there to investigate the possibility of something far more sinister. And sure enough, after conducting a relatively brief evaluation of Maya lasting between 10 and 30 minutes, Dr. Smith arrived at a new diagnosis.

Oh, no.

C, alien hand syndrome. A. Yeah. I think I let the genie out of the bottle on that one already. Well, it could have. I mean, I don't know what Cotard syndrome is. I'm going to tell you because it's actually fascinating. It has nothing to do with this case. It's also referred to as the walking corpse syndrome. It's a very rare condition marked by the false belief that you or your body parts are dead, dying, or don't exist. I think I might have that. Sure. You think you have everything.

And then alien hand syndrome is a phenomenon in which one hand is not under control of the mind. So the person loses control of the hand and it acts as if it has a mind of its own. Like the thing from family? Right. Interesting. Munchausen syndrome by proxy, also referred to as medical child abuse, is also referred to as factitious disorder imposed on another. I always forget what Munchausen syndrome is. Munchausen syndrome by proxy is

Are you going to tell us what it is? I'm going to tell you right now. Okay. Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a psychological disorder and a type of child abuse where the caregiver, frequently the mother, either fabricates fictitious symptoms or induces actual symptoms in their child, creating the appearance or reality of illness. And this diagnosis or allegation is no fucking joke. What did she poison her? This is what people with...

Munchausen syndrome by proxy will often do. Yeah. You saw the sixth sense. Obviously we've talked about it. So one of the ghosts, you may recall, she threw up in front of the little boy who could see dead people. And then it came to light. He discovered that the mother was putting Drano in her daughter's food and killed her. Why? It's a psychological disorder where the person harming the child is, is,

joy or some kind of satisfaction from all of the attention that she's receiving. It's fucking terrible. And as I said, this type of allegation is not something to throw around lightly because without any type of follow-up, warning, or opportunity to even realize what was happening, the state took immediate custody of

of Maya. And this triggered a court-ordered separation that isolated Maya from her entire family, which in turn triggered the most heartbreaking set of events you could possibly imagine. Dr. Smith's report to the Department of Children and Families explained how she found Beata's account of Maya's illness unconvincing. That was in air quotes.

Smith indicated that Beata, quote, veered off regarding herself getting no sleep for weeks and the struggles of working to maintain insurance. In other words, she's suggesting, Dr. Sally Smith, that Beata was making this whole situation about herself and how it affected herself. On October 11th, which was five days after Maya's last relapse, which is what necessitated her visit to All Children's Hospital, she

Dr. Smith obtained medical records from Dr. Kirkpatrick and Dr. Hanna, at which point Dr. Kirkpatrick advised Smith that he had been the one to first diagnose Maya with CRPS, that he had been the one to recommend the ketamine infusions, that he had been the one to recommend the ketamine coma. Yeah.

You know what? I'm prescribing you a coma. I mean, it worked. And he had been the one to prescribe the very high doses that she was receiving. Similarly, Dr. Hanna advised Dr. Smith that Munchausen by proxy was a common misdiagnosis in CRPS cases. And, crucially, that this was not the case with the Kowalskis. Okay, so two doctors are...

kind of saying the same thing. The two doctors that have been treating Maya, that know the family, that have been there from symptom number one and have watched it escalate. Was there a documentary about this? Yes, there was. A Netflix documentary. Yeah. I watched it, obviously. It presents sort of one side of things. It presents it from the Kowalski's perspective, which I'm not saying is good or bad. I'm just kind of giving you that understanding. What was the name of it again? Taking Care of Maya.

I thought I had seen it or Jessica watched it. Maybe she did. I don't know. Maybe she did. Yeah. There's also tons of court footage out there about this case. It's tragic as fuck.

Incredibly, on the heels of receiving this information from her two trading doctors, Smith made the astonishing decision to omit what they said from her report to the state. That's fucked up. Instead, she firmly advocated for measures to safeguard Maya from her parents. Sounds like she's got some kind of fucking psychological disorder. I tend to agree. Yeah.

Yeah, I didn't think so. Yeah.

Paramedics arrived and found the baby stable, but Vivian and her husband Jeremy insisted on seeking immediate care at the ER at all children's hospital. I would do the same. Yeah, of course. My son had a seizure and he was fine when people showed up. You're taking him to the hospital or I am. If my son coughs, I want to bring him to the ER. My son choked on a liquid vitamin when he was five weeks old and I called 911 and they showed up. They were incredible. Yeah.

They knocked down my front door. They took him right out of my arms. They stripped him out of his little onesie. He was tiny, five weeks old. They took him outside. It was November because they said the cool air might shock him because I thought he was unconscious. Turns out when a baby chokes, they work so hard to clear their airways that they fall asleep.

So they only did was wake him up. But still, you better goddamn believe we went in that ambulance and we went straight to the hospital. Yeah. I remember when my oldest son first got the croup cough or like the... Whooping cough? No, it's not whooping cough. Croup. Whooping is like you throw up from coughing so much. Oh, I thought they were the same thing for some reason. No, the croup is like a... Barking dog. Yeah. So it's an upper respiratory infection.

which the doctor explained lower respiratory sounds not scary is horrible. Like the lungs. It's deep in your lungs. That's how pneumonia is. Lungs are not absorbing air. So upper respiratory sounds like, so first time it happened, I tried to take him to the urgent care and then just being completely and totally honest as a human being. I don't know if parents are going to relate to this. I hope so, but I also hope not.

I didn't want to take them to the ER. I didn't know if I, like, if I was going to sit there for nothing. You know what I mean? They, you're, you're in there for three to fucking four hours. It was nine 30 at night. Weighing your options is okay. Okay. So I take them to the urgent care and they're closed. Then I'm trying to figure out, do I actually need to go to the ER? Obviously.

And I go, hey, listen to me. He's like two and a half years old at this time. Like, he doesn't know what's happening. He doesn't know if he thinks, you know. Of course. Boogie Man is real. He's still shitting himself. I get it. Yeah. So I go, hey, buddy, can you breathe? Yes or no? And he goes. Oh, my God.

Yeah. Oh, my poor baby. That's terrible. That's the most confusing answer you could have possibly given me. There's nothing confusing about that. I drove right to the ER. Thank you. I'm so happy to hear that. You have no idea. Either that or he was lying. Yeah, no. Yeah. Yeah, I think you don't know what the fuck is going on. Poor baby. Yeah, I know. I was a severe asthmatic. I was hospitalized regularly throughout my childhood. Yeah, not breathing is very bad. No, I came close to dying one time.

almost died in the back of my parents' car. So scary. So terrifying. Anyway, when we're talking about Viviana Graham and her four-month-old who had the seizure, right? Just reminding everybody where we are. So once the baby arrived at the hospital, the four-month-old, a CT scan was given and it confirmed that...

a very distressing diagnosis. The baby had indeed experienced two brain bleeds. Despite the absence of any visible bruises on the baby's body, Dr. Smith concluded that the head trauma had been inflicted and suspected the infant had been subjected to being, quote, slammed on a soft surface. Merely two days after Dr. Smith submitted her evaluation to the Department of Children and Families, DCF,

Jeremy, the baby's father, faced charges of aggravated child abuse, a felony with a potential prison sentence of up to 30 years. Oh, yeah, and that's a bad prison sentence. Oh, yeah. After the baby was assessed by a neurologist and a radiologist, it was determined that the brain bleeds continued to occur even when Jeremy was not present. What the fuck is up with this lady? Eight months, Tank. Eight months.

Months later, Jeremy was finally cleared of wrongdoing and allowed to return home. By that time, his baby, Tristan, had reached the age of one and was already learning how to walk. Viviana, by the way, is now a very strong voice and advocate for caretakers who are falsely accused of abuse. Because sadly, over the past six years...

At least 19 families in Pinellas County have shared their experiences with Dr. Smith, alleging false accusations of child abuse. Is she making money on these kids going away or something? I mean, we're going to get into that in 30 seconds. We're going to circle back to it. 60 seconds. Real fast.

Recently, another one of Dr. Smith's cases collapsed publicly. In early 2021, Saisha Mercado, who finished in third place on season seven of American Idol, took her baby to all children seeking help for feeding issues, okay? Smith deemed the malnutrition the result of neglect, and the boy was removed from Mercado's custody. I fucking, I truly hate this lady. That August, police...

police stopped Mercado's SUV and removed her newborn daughter after a family court judge issued a pickup order for the infant to receive a hospital checkup.

A video of the incident drew 3.5 million views on Instagram, as well as the attention of a celebrity who publicly advocated on her behalf. Pop quiz. Pop quiz. Which celebrity shared Saisha Mercado's story? Okay. A, Jennifer Aniston. B, Kim Kardashian. C, Hailey Bieber. What year was this? 2021. Okay. Jennifer Aniston, Kim Kardashian.

Hailey Bieber. I'm going to go Kim Kardashian. You are correct. Yeah. You know your influencers. I do. Kim Kardashian encouraged her 70 million Twitter followers to share the absolutely heartbreaking story. Mercado also retained a team of attorneys, including Mr. Benjamin Crump, who

who has represented the families of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and is also co-counsel on cases where he represents survivors of sexual abuse alongside my family's firm. Yeah, that's your boy. That's my boy. By October, both of Mercado's children were returned to her. Thank God. There are at least 12 documented cases in which Smith identified abuse only for the children to be returned to their parents, charges dropped, or DCF to reverse its separation order.

Smith has been named in at least four decisions by Florida's Second District Court of Appeals. In one, the court found that, and this is a quote, there was no medical evidence of child abuse, only Smith's speculation and personal character opinions.

At all children's hospital, Dr. Smith often appeared wearing an ID badge with the hospital's logo and occasionally sporting a white lab coat, which led many families to believe that she was a staff doctor. Oh, yeah, she's got a white lab coat. Yeah, they assumed that their conversations were protected by doctor-patient confidentiality. And what was she? So she was in charge...

of a team that was outsourced, which I'm going to get into, that's called to investigate potential child abuse cases. She's not an active physician providing actual physical healthcare. Yeah. But she is a doctor. Okay. In reality...

She wasn't even employed by the actual hospital. And her primary affiliation was not even with the state because in 2004, Florida privatized its child welfare system. And the responsibilities in Pinellas County were outsourced to a company called Suncoast Center Inc., where Dr. Smith was one of the 117 employees.

So these private entities like Suncoast receive substantial public funding exceeding $3 billion. Wow. But there's limited oversight over their effectiveness in preventing child abuse or their tendency to allege wrongdoing even when it doesn't exist. And in Pinellas County, children are removed from their families at a rate almost two and a half times higher than the state average. How does that not flag...

I'll tell you, it's definitely flagging people now. Dr. Smith operated within a system designed to diligently identify child abuse, which is a commendable goal in itself.

In and of itself, in Florida, the law mandates that all citizens become mandatory reporters. This means that anyone, whether a layperson or a professional who suspects child harm, must notify authorities subject to the risk of a third-degree felony conviction for failing to do so.

Florida's child welfare protocols prioritize child safety over parental interests, which again, in theory, appears entirely reasonable. Children can't advocate for themselves. They can't speak for themselves. However, it's evident that the system is not flawless. And in certain cases, such as the one under discussion here, can inadvertently cause more harm than good.

It leaves little room for exceptions, nuance, or comprehensive investigation, ultimately leading to the unjust implication of innocent parenthood.

Yeah. One method for substantiating or refuting a Munchausen by proxy diagnosis involves conducting what is referred to as a separation test. And I referenced it when I talked about how the father, Jeremy, was pulled away from his son for eight months. Yeah. In this test, the child is temporarily separated from the parents suspected of inducing the illness to determine if there's any improvement in the child's health. Okay. Seems like such a basic test. Yeah.

In Maya's case, as weeks passed with Maya remaining in isolation from her family, she continued to report severe pain. So Dr. Smith, sticking to her guns and still skeptical of the CRPS diagnosis, began to consider other possibilities beyond Munchausen by proxy. Never the possibility that she actually has the condition though. Pop

Pop quiz. Okay. What did Smith do next in response to her skepticism about the Munchausen by proxy diagnosis? In Maya's case? Yes. Okay. A, stage a fire on Maya's floor to see if she'd suddenly be able to use her legs to run out. B, assign her a teenage roommate with whom she might share secrets about faking her condition.

C. Arrange for doctors to secretly videotape Maya for 48 hours to hopefully catch her in the act of feigning her health issues. A. No. Thank God. But you're sick. I have Munchausen by proxy syndrome right now. Oh. You're ill mentally. I'm sorry. Got her a teenage roommate. No. Great. Cool. Back to fucking shabizness on these pop quizzes. C. No.

Yes, my friend. All right, that was going to be my first guess. Smith instructed doctors to secretly videotape Maya for 48 hours and asked nurses to try to observe any movement in Maya's legs. One hospital employee texted Smith alleging to have seen Maya use her feet to push herself several feet in her wheelchair.

Accordingly, by December 2009, a hospital pediatrician changed Maya's diagnosis from Munchausen by proxy to factitious disorder. This meant that Dr. Smith, who was in direct communication with Maya's care team, no longer suspected her parents of causing her illness. Rather, she was now officially accusing Maya of fabricating her symptoms. And yet... Nine-year-old. Yes, 10 at this point, but yes.

Despite all children's acceptance of Smith's conclusion that Maya was feigning her condition...

Maya's custody situation remained unchanged and she continued to be separated from her parents because it turned out that this arrangement proved financially advantageous for the hospital. During the months that Maya spent there, all children's hospital billed her insurer for over $650,000 for her treatment, including 174 entries related to CRPS and

the condition that Maya was supposedly not even afflicted with. It's so infuriating. Yeah. I don't even know how this wasn't on anyone's radar prior to this case dropping. Yeah, I guess like you can't, I feel like you, you want to pull something like this. A, you're a bad person. B, you're a bad person.

You should really only be able to get away with it for so long unless you have people cooperating with you on levels below you, above you, and aside. It takes a village to pull this off. Yeah. The state's shelter order only permitted Beata to communicate with her daughter under supervision via phone and video. No in-person visits? Nope. For months. Horrible.

And by December, hospital staff began imposing additional restrictions at their discretion. What was the fucking rationale for that? Or what could the justification possibly be for that? I cannot think of one. Okay. What is your rationale for keeping the child away from her parents if you have now cleared the Munchausen by proxy diagnosis and have instead indicated that the child is making it up? It's just like incomprehensible. It is. This is why this case haunts me.

It's the level of psychological torture. Yeah. And it's the institutional bullying. On a 10-year-old. On a child and her parents. Yeah. You're going to go on to hear how this affected everyone. So we were saying that there were many people involved, right? It takes a village, if you will. For example, Maya's social worker, a woman named Catherine or Kathy R. Beattie,

started declining many of Beata's FaceTime calls, which had been previously daily. She reduced it to once a week. Oh, my God. Did the mother not go there and try and break in? She was told that she would be arrested. Yeah, okay. Listen, she was really going through it. Who was, the mother? The mother. The whole family was really, really going through it. They were fighting. They did not take this lying down. Disappointed.

Despite several aunts and uncles volunteering to supervise visits between the parents and Maya, all children's hospital rejected this, citing their perceived emotional connection to the family, meaning the relatives, as later explained by administrators.

Two teachers who had been commuting from Venice to St. Petersburg to tutor Maya during her hospital stay were suddenly denied access, resulting in her discontinuation of educational instruction. Even the family priest was now denied entry to her floor. They were completely isolating her. They essentially kidnapped her. Maya spent Halloween, Christmas, New Year's, and her 11th

apart from her parents in the hospital, which by this point had become her prison. It's devastating. She's like the same age as my older son. The thought of him being cooped up alone. Yeah, it's not. It's too much. I have no words to...

With the exception of attending a court hearing here or there, Maya never left the hospital or was permitted to see or feel the sunlight on her skin. She lived her life 24-7 beneath those sterile fluorescent hospital lights surrounded by strangers and several members of the hospital staff who by this point had begun treating her like a fucking prisoner. In pain, too. Yes, and she's really ill.

Yeah, this better have a happy ending. In January 2017, just before Maya was scheduled to leave the hospital to attend a court hearing, Kathy Beattie, who was her social worker, along with a nurse, entered Maya's room and ordered her to undress so that the hospital's risk management department could photograph Maya before the upcoming proceeding.

But Maya refused to cooperate. Kathy Beattie then threatened to withhold the opportunity for Maya to see her mother at the courthouse, something that Maya was absolutely desperate to do. Still, Maya refused to take her clothes off. I feel like I'd blow up the hospital. Ugh.

By the way, totally normal that a nine-year-old girl, especially in the absence of her mother, is refusing to take off her clothing. When I went for physicals my whole childhood, I refused to take off my clothing. The only time I would agree to do it is if, A, my mother was there, and B, I was allowed to wrap my body in my clothing. So they could still put the stethoscope directly on my skin, but I was holding my sweatpants over my bare chest. You know what I mean? It's very...

developmentally appropriate Maya's reaction. Kathy Beatty's response, however, was not to respect Maya's wishes or delicately figure out a way to navigate the situation. Instead, she forcibly removed Maya's pants and shirt. Maya documented this incident in a written account that was later included in a legal filing. And Maya wrote this, I was crying and saying, no, stop, but she wouldn't.

Beatty pinned me face down and either she or the nurse took photos of me in my training bra and shorts. No. No. Additionally, the Kowalskis later discovered that Kathy Beatty had been dismissed from a previous position where she managed foster care children after being arrested and charged with child abuse. This is the fucking social worker.

Four of Kathy's colleagues reported an incident to the police in which they witnessed her pinning a 10-year-old boy to the ground with her knees and covering his face with a blanket as he screamed and cried that he couldn't breathe. At a court hearing pertaining to the custody battle existing between, obviously, Maya and her parents in the hospital in January of 2017, Maya asked her attorney for two things.

One, to speak with the judge, Circuit Judge Lee Hayworth. And two, to hug her mother. She was denied both of those requests. They wouldn't... By who? The judge. The judge didn't want to talk to her? Judge wouldn't speak with her and the judge wouldn't let her hug her mother. So the judge isn't on it too? Everyone is. You know, on the one hand, Hank, like honestly...

I understand adults thinking that they have to take the harder road, make the harder choice, even though it's maybe really, really difficult to tell a child she can't hug her mother if you think you're protecting that child.

But why wouldn't you talk to her? That, I don't know. She's a piece of shit. All these fucking people suck. Listen, I'm with you, but I'm just, I'm trying to not remain impartial because I can't, because I feel the way you feel. But if they truly believe that she's in danger, but they don't, because by this point they ruled out the Munchausen by proxy. Well, that's going, that's, I'm considering that when I'm saying what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah, okay. I think I lagged behind a step there.

Meanwhile, Beata's psychological and emotional health was rapidly deteriorating in the midst of being kept apart from her ailing child. She became lethargic, pale, thin, and unable to control her crying.

There was even one incident in which Beata indicated to Jack that she was going to run an errand to CVS, but she didn't return until well past midnight, completely drunk. And it was the first time in their 13-year marriage that Jack had ever witnessed his wife inebriated. She was unraveling quickly.

Beata had always been a strong woman and the linchpin of her family. She worked her ass off in life and never appeared to have been given a single thing. And she's a nurse too. Yes. So she's like, why, what, why can't I see my child? Right. Yeah. Born as Beata Zerowski on February 24th, 1973, she immigrated to the U S from communist era Poland at the age of 16. Beata,

Beata possessed an unwavering work ethic, determination, and a fierce resolve, never accepting no for an answer. She was fighting tooth and nail tank. I know you're saying things like, I would have blown up the hospital. I would have busted through the door.

The reality is, is she couldn't. She couldn't. She was prevented, literally prevented by the legal system. She was also deteriorating psychologically and she was exhausted because she was fighting tooth and nail. Yeah, she probably couldn't even make a great case for herself because her brain was scrambled. Right. The stress. Beata attended high school in Chicago and self-financed her education through college and nursing school.

She ended up pursuing a career after nursing school as a nurse in the cardiac cath lab at Loyola University Medical Center. This is a...

strong, intelligent, hardworking woman. Beata had a direct communication style, which some people appreciate, but not so much in this case. Because coupled with English being her second language, she sometimes gave the impression that she was overly assertive or rude in her interactions with doctors. She maintained a straightforward and no-nonsense approach, which contributed towards some of Maya's medical professionals and her social worker to believe that...

that she, Beata, had, quote, mental issues. Beata also documented Maya's condition and maintained meticulous notes in relation to her symptoms and ketamine infusions. But then, an absolutely devastating situation unfolded on January 8th, 2017, when Jack was awakened by the bone-chilling screams of a visiting relative who was found standing in front of the open door leading from the house to the garage. Inside the garage...

Beata Kowalski hung herself. Jack ran to see what had happened, but was slowed down by the need to physically push his son, Kyle, back and away from the door to spare him the heartbreaking sight of his mother's body swaying from the ceiling.

In a suicide note that Beata wrote via email, she stated, I'm sorry, but I can no longer take the pain of being away from Maya and being treated like a criminal. I cannot watch my daughter suffer in pain and keep getting worse while my hands are tied by the state of Florida and the judge. At all children's,

Maya was visited by her father, brother, and family priests who all delivered the crushing news about her mother. Just one hour after Maya received the worst news of her life, Jack was told that he had to leave, and Maya was once again alone.

Contrary to the hospital suspicions, Beata was never diagnosed with a mental illness. And prior to the DCF investigation, Jack says she'd never suffered from depression a day in her life. In fact, Beata had even undergone a court-ordered evaluation by a licensed psychologist who found no evidence that would support the conclusion that Beata had falsified her daughter's medical condition for any psychological purpose and

and who also concluded that factitious disorder by proxy may safely be ruled out. The psychologist did note that Beata may have suffered from an adjustment disorder resulting from Maya's illness and removal from their home. Yeah, of course. Five days following Beata's tragic, tragic suicide, the court finally allowed Maya to return home to her now broken and devastated family.

Jack Kowalski, on behalf of his children, Maya and Kyle, and the estate of his late wife, Beata, filed a lawsuit against John Hopkins All Children's Medical Center, alleging that the hospital's treatment and accusations of child abuse against Beata led her to take her own life.

Opening statements in the case began on September 21st of this year, 2023. The defense attorney representing the hospital said in his opening statement that actions taken by John Hopkins were reasonable in the best interest of the patient and followed Florida's mandatory reporting law in reporting suspected child abuse. The prosecution representing the Kowalskis contended that although the hospital had the authority to report child abuse, the

Once Maya was under their care, they failed to shield her from internal abusers and individuals, notably social workers, who exploited Maya's vulnerability. These staff members incorrectly surmised that Maya's genuine medical condition was a pretense and or that her mother suffered from a mental illness that was causing harm.

They obstructed phone calls, parental contact, visit from Maya's priest and teachers, and took intentional measures to victimize the young child who essentially became a captive inside the hospital. Yeah, 10 years old. And of course, after 87 days of separating a mother from her ailing child, the

This prompted the mother's tragic suicide. During the ensuing trial, Stephanie Graham, who was a detective with the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, called to investigate Maya's situation, took the stand. Now, Detective Graham has been under fire for some of the decisions she made during her investigation, particularly during an interview she conducted with Jack on November 17th, 2016.

The prosecuting attorney, so the one representing the Kowalskis, Greg Anderson, alleged that Dr. Graham did not advise Jack that she'd been recording their conversation and that she didn't advise Jack of his right to legal representation during the questioning, to which she replied by saying that the interview was on a voluntary basis and that he was free to discontinue at any point. At the end of the day, the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office never even wrapped up a full investigation because Beata Kowalski...

Had died. Yeah.

Following a two-month trial and after deliberating for just over 16 hours, the jury in Florida's 12th Judicial Circuit in Sarasota County concluded at around 2 p.m. on November 7th, 2023, that the actions of Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital indeed led to Beata's suicide. Great. Specifically, they were found liable for the following. I was going to say good, and then I said great, and instead I sounded like Tony the Tiger. That's fine. You can do it.

I like him. I like his cereal. So this is what they were found liable for. False imprisonment of Maya Kowalski. Battery. Fraudulent billing. Inflicting emotional distress on Bia Kowalski.

wrongful death claim for the estate of Beata Kowalski and intentionally inflicting emotional distress on Maya Kowalski, which includes wrongfully placing the child under surveillance for 48 consecutive hours and making her strip down to a training bra in order to be photographed. As such, the Kowalski family was awarded $211,000

million dollars. Good. Goddamn right. Yeah. I learned a new term during my research that I'm just going to tell you about. I didn't see this term come up at all in my research or in court transcripts or documents unless I missed it. But the term is iatrogenic abuse, which refers to abuse or harm that occurs as a result of medical treatment, interventions, or procedures. And it applies.

to this case here. Yeah, of course. I just thought it was interesting. So I wanted to, I got your genic, I a trogenic abuse, I a trogenic abuse, right? Following the trial, Maya addressed the media and gave the following statement while clutching onto some of Beata's belongings. She said to me, it was about the answer, knowing that my mom was right. I want people to know that she wasn't harming me at all.

I mean, for the first time, I feel like I got justice. When Maya left All Children's Hospital in January 2017, she weighed less than she did when she was first admitted. She was so weak that it was difficult for her to sit up on her own. Once finally at home, Maya cried constantly and had to undergo extensive physical therapy and aqua therapy. Then,

Incredibly, after a year and a half, Maya stood up out of her wheelchair, picked up her crutches, and slowly made her way across the room.

After 12 more months of swimming, yoga, and exercise, Maya took her first unassisted steps in four years. Wow. And Maya, who is now 17, recently competed in her first figure skating tournament in five years, and she took first place. Really? Figure skating? Yeah. That's a fucking difficult activity. Isn't it? Oh, yeah.

Oh my God. Yeah. I took figure skating lessons and it was messy. Figure skating. What's the movie? Is it Youngblood? I think there's a scene in there that I may be wrong, but I remember a figure skater saying like, my three minute routine requires more stamina and strength than your 20 minute period in hockey. Wow. Yeah. That's wild.

I mean, I don't know why. I don't know if that's true or not. I don't know. It sounds pretty impressive though. Figure skating is non-stop. Absolutely. Every inch of ice is planned out and choreographed. Attended for, yeah.

In conclusion, the devastating saga of the Kowalski family unveils a sobering reality. It underscores the imperative need for unwavering diligence, transparency, and accountability within our healthcare systems and child welfare agencies. The haunting question lingers, how do we

Yeah. Yeah.

A stark reminder that the pursuit of truth and compassion must remain paramount in our pursuit of a just and humane society. Agree. The Kowalski story, by the way, was first reported by The Cut. I use that as a source in this case. Excellent coverage. And the Netflix documentary is called Take Care of Maya. I think there was a documentary on Peacock about this, or maybe it was a different girl. Maybe. Well, are you thinking of...

Gypsy Rose Blanchard, Munchausen by proxy disorder. Her mother. What's the name of that documentary? Gypsy, I think. No. Okay. I don't know. I remember taking care of something, but Maya didn't sound familiar, but maybe, I don't know. It was like a long time ago. So. Okay. Who knows? So that's the case. Anyway, I learned about it today. Yes, you did. And I hated every second of it. Yeah. A different case for us, obviously, but tragic and heartbreaking and legally. Whatever happened with Sally Smith?

She retired. Fuck her. Oh my God. There was a private lawsuit with Suncoast where she worked and Sally. Yeah. And they lost obviously and they had to pay $2.5 million I believe was the figure. So she was...

found responsible. And again, she did retire this past summer. I don't know how she fucking lives with herself. I don't know. You know, it's a delicate line. It's a tightrope. No, she knew what she was doing. Yes. I'm just saying in general. Yeah, but this was not, this is not that. Right. I think she's an outlier. Like, I don't think that most people. She's like that judge that was making money off sending kids to prison. Yes. Same thing. Right. I think I would like to believe that most people in healthcare who go into social work and

And who go into agencies whose sole mission is to protect children, do so with the right intentions, even if they have to make the hard decisions. Yeah. I agree with you. I don't think in this case she had the right intentions and was making difficult decisions for any other reason than to stir shit. That's what I'm saying. I know. Fuck her. I agree with you. Yeah. But I just wanted to make that general statement that I don't think she represents...

most people who go into her field. I don't think so either. But I do think it raises a flag, an alarm. It sounds an alarm that we as a society have to pay attention to this. Yeah, she definitely sucks. Yes. Yeah. It's so, so tragic. I feel like you're defending her. No, I'm just kidding. I can keep going. You're on Sally Smith's side. Never. What a dumb name too. It sounds made up. You're a fucking idiot character in a children's book.

Sally Smith. See Sally Smith play with Rover. See Sally Smith live in hell for the rest of her life. I can't imagine she has it easy now. No, I hope her life is

incredibly difficult. I just hope for peace for the Kowalskis. Yes, that too. And closure. They got $211 million. They did. I mean, they lost Beata. This experience will never go away. No, and no dollar amount obviously will ever make up for that loss. No, but I like that punch to the hospital. Yeah, well, I think, I don't think this can be ignored. No.

No. Or will be ignored as easily moving forward. That's why I like that amount. Yeah. No, it sends a message for sure. Exactly. For sure. It's like, you're not going to get away with a little slap on the wrist fine, 25 grand. Right. This is going to change the trajectory of your entire hospital for the next 30 years. At least, I hope forever. Yeah. You need checks and balances in any big institution. Yeah. All right. Well, I'm going to go hug my kids. Same. Okay. So let's wrap up. I hear that out.

Tro music. There it is. Anyway, if you enjoyed this episode and you're not subscribed yet, what are you doing? You know, subscribe. Apple, Spotify, rate, review. DM us, email us, psychopediapod at gmail.com. And we'll be looking forward to hearing from you guys until we do the next episode, which is when we will see you. Thank you so much for listening. Bye.