Maya Kowalski and the Unfettered Power of Child Abuse Pediatricians

The Maya Kowalski trial is streaming now, and it has been eye-opening for many who are not familiar with the power wielded by child abuse pediatricians through their contractual relationships with child welfare agencies. Reactions from my friends and family to Maya’s case have ranged from shock and disbelief, to an assumption that Maya’s case is being publicized because it is unique.

But for those of us who work in the system, Maya’s case, while tragic, is not unique at all.

If you are not watching the trial or have not seen the documentary on Netflix, Take Care of Maya, Maya Kowalski suffers from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), a mysterious but painfully debilitating illness. A common symptom of CRPS involves excruciating pain felt from even light touches to the skin. Even something as simple as putting on clothes can lead to unbearable pain. A close friend of mine suffers from the syndrome. She once explained that even walking on grass with bare feet is unbearable.

In recent years, doctors have found some success in treating CRPS with ketamine. In fact, after Maya’s initial diagnosis of CRPS her doctor prescribed low doses of ketamine. But like many pain medications, tolerances build, requiring higher dosages of the medication to be effective.

In 2016, then 10-year-old Maya was taken to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital after experiencing a “flare-up” of CRPS. When Maya’s mother, Beata, a registered nurse, explained Maya’s CRPS diagnosis to the hospital and requested Maya be administered a high dosage of ketamine to stop the pain, the hospital believed Maya was faking her symptoms, and that Beata had Munchausen’s Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP). MSBP is allegedly a mental illness most commonly described as a mother faking various medical problems suffered by her child in order to garner sympathy and attention from others. Many are beginning to question whether MSBP is even real.

Nevertheless, hospital staff contacted Florida’s child welfare agency, convinced the agency Beata was medically abusing Maya, and had Maya removed from her parents’ care. Despite trying everything to reunite with Maya, Beata committed suicide after concluding that Maya’s best hope of returning home was if Beata was out of the picture. Unfortunately, Beata was right: Maya was eventually returned home, but only after a months-long stay in the hospital.

Maya is now suing Johns Hopkins for over $220 million. Livestreaming of the trial has given the world the opportunity to see the unchecked power child abuse pediatricians (CAPs) currently have. Even more troubling, CAPs are not the only ones who hold a great deal of power over families; social workers and other professionals do as well.

Again, for those of us working in this system, Maya’s case, while somewhat extreme compared to most, is not unique. As writer and Lawtuber Megan Fox uncovered, Maya’s case is not even unique to Johns Hopkins; another mother also committed suicide in the mid-1990s after being diagnosed with Munchausen by Proxy by the hospital.

The first two weeks of the trial has involved a presentation of Maya’s case. Viewers have seen testimony from Maya’s doctors, the hospital social worker assigned to Maya’s case, and the CAP who first “diagnosed” Beata with MSBP. Because the hospital believed Maya was faking her illness to please her mother, they did not treat Maya’s CRPS. Rather, they assumed Maya was being overmedicated as a result of her mother’s mental illness and weaned Maya off nearly all her treatments. Those watching the trial heard Maya describe the excruciating pain she suffered as a result.

In the last week, over 70 families in Pennsylvania came forward to complain about similar treatment they received from another CAP, Debra Esernio-Jenssen. The facts in those cases sound eerily similar to Maya’s case.

For the last year or more, our firm has been working on several cases involving CAPs. I’ve read a lot on the topic and will be sharing more in the near future.