Anonymous wrote:The doctor is the one who suggested and gave ketamine to Maya, not Beata. They saw her dramatically improve with freedom of pain. So Beata wanted to continue with the treatment that seemed to have helped her daughter. I dont see how that’s abuse from Beata.

Bc you can find a doctor anywhere to say anything. Let’s say you go to a doctor who tells you your chemo needing child can instead eat a raw food diet and get sunlight daily. Can you shrug and say it’s on the doctor bc I trusted what he said?

The doctor is the one who suggested and gave ketamine to Maya, not Beata. They saw her dramatically improve with freedom of pain. So Beata wanted to continue with the treatment that seemed to have helped her daughter. I dont see how that’s abuse from Beata.

Kids are complex. My 11 year old just had her tonsils out. Everyone told me it'll be hell. That she's going to be in so much pain. It's going to be horrible. Well, it wasn't. Sure she had some pain here and there but she's such a tough kid after being used to being in pain (between ear tubes, strep and tonsil stones). I have no doubt that is Maya. My DD also has anxiety, and doesn't like to show she's in pain, especially to strangers (even doctors).

A friend from high school noticed one day that her baby daughter (10 months old) had some spots on her ear lobes. She took her to the doctor to make sure it wasn't anything crazy, and that's when the doctors accused them of abusing her. Know what it was? 2 days before her mother in law was putting a party headband on the girls head and it landed awkwardly on her ears, making the bruises (poor kid has a big head like her dad). Thankfully the hospital released their daughter into grandma's care, but it was weeks of interviews, lie detector tests, police involvement, only supervised visitation and scans on the baby. I think it took around 3 months to finally close that case.

The woman at the end of the documentary was 100% correct. You are guilty until you prove your innocence. How exactly are you supposed to prove you didn't do something? It's like Amazon asking for proof that your package didn't arrive.

As far as the meds, we don't do much med testing on children in general. Women were just included in medical trials in the early 1990's. More studies and testing needs to happen. I know children out there are being abused, but there has to be some way to stop this medical abuse and trauma on families simply trying to help their children.

Anonymous wrote:I do feel terribly for the family and I don’t think anyone disagrees that this could’ve been handled better, but in reality I think this would’ve gone down pretty similarly no matter which hospital they took her to. I don't doubt Maya has CRPS, but (as a former RN) alarm bell after alarm bell would go off if I had a 10 year old patient come in and her mom insist she's going to die if we didn't give her a super dangerous dose of ketamine. (Seriously, 1000mg is freaking insane, to the point of criminality.)

There was unmistakably another layer to the situation than just a mother’s devotion to her daughter. The way the doctors and court system handled everything was wrong and traumatic, but I really think Beata needed to be flagged down somehow, an intervention needed to occur on behalf of Maya.

This. There is nothing said after the hospital release about the ketamine dosage. We see the child do ok in the hospital by video and after we see great progress. The only videos of crying and pain were all from before. There is no question she had crps or other condition. All you need to do is see her turned in feet. That can’t be faked or subject to suggestion - especially since her feet turned in even while comatose. So while the FL doctor did diagnose her, he recommended a terrible treatment. No evidence she researched crps and other treatments and doctors. No evidence she tried anything else. This was an obsessive mother whose MO was that she would do anything to help her kid. The dad backed off and she handled it all. The mom was wrong - very wrong - in not finding other alternatives in the US. Bc the research shows it can adjust for the better, on its own. The dad was also very wrong in that he knew his wife was pushy and he just accepted this without question. Would your spouse just allow you to put your child in a coma and pump them up with a massive amount of drugs in a frightening procedure that is not approved here?

The hardest part of their journey was no diagnosis. Once they had one, I don’t understand why there is no notebook or audio/video recording evidence she sought out any other options.

so while watching the brother cry was sad…so was watching the child in the coma and waking up from it.

This needed to be reported to cps and the ketamine treatments to the child needed to stop. It appears that happened from the story because I’d assume they’d have said if she was still on the high dose (and even higher as she tolerated more).

Once it went to CPS, they can make a finding. It was up to the court to make judgment based on that finding. Why didn’t the child’s lawyer ask for another outside evaluation? Or speak or subpoena to the two ketamine doctors. How do I know they didn’t? I don’t. What I do know is the main ketamine doctor didn’t testify. He wrote an inadmissible letter to the court. That’s it. If they spoke to him, they realized he isn’t helpful and they wanted him far away from the judge.

Another thing that bothered me was the allegation that the cps doctor sat on another kid. Zero details. Zero information about any repercussions to her about that. Why? It made her look horrible but without additional information, we can’t judge. Why didn’t the documentary provide it. Maybe the kid was biting or hitting others or her and she was restraining him. Again, why no details?

I do feel terribly for the family and I don’t think anyone disagrees that this could’ve been handled better, but in reality I think this would’ve gone down pretty similarly no matter which hospital they took her to. I don't doubt Maya has CRPS, but (as a former RN) alarm bell after alarm bell would go off if I had a 10 year old patient come in and her mom insist she's going to die if we didn't give her a super dangerous dose of ketamine. (Seriously, 1000mg is freaking insane, to the point of criminality.)

There was unmistakably another layer to the situation than just a mother’s devotion to her daughter. The way the doctors and court system handled everything was wrong and traumatic, but I really think Beata needed to be flagged down somehow, an intervention needed to occur on behalf of Maya.

Here’s another example of the one sidedness:

The brother and family was devastated with the continuance. In reality, it was continued because the court of appeals was deciding if punitive damages could be awarded. The hospital said no, they lost and they appealed it. They knew an appeal was pending. They knew the court of appeals stayed (paused) the trial court’s trial pending the court of appeals decision on punitive damages. If they wanted no continuances and to have their day in court without a second more delay, then they could drop their request for punitive damages. Obviously they weren't going to do that. They portrayed it as having no idea at all that having it not go forward was the likely scenario. We heard the judge say he couldn’t do anything bc of the stay from the higher court. It was a dumb move on the family’s attorney part to even suggest going forward that day.

This was all trumped up and emotional for the show… bc there was no way for it to proceed unless the family agreed to drop punitive damages. And…they were right to not do so bc the court of appeals agreed with them and they CAN seek punitive damages. That increases their possible award by a lot.

I think the truth is somewhere in the middle. As someone who's child has a chronic illness (Crohn's disease) and was initially told by doctors, before being dx'ed, that it was mostly in her head and she had an eating disorder, I understand the sheer exhaustion and frustration of a parent who's child is sick especially if there are no clear cut answers as to what's wrong and doctors are minimizing the agony your child is in. But I also understand that 1000mg of ketamine is a HUGE dosage and that pediatric hospitals see horrific instances of child abuse every single day. And they are mandated reporters. Frankly I think they were right to be concerned about what Beata was demanding and I really don't think they had any other option BUT to consult with child protection. Now, was it right for Maya to be held in state custody for several months? Probably not. Was it right that the judge denied Beata a simple hug from her daughter? Or for that social worker to photograph an undressed Maya against her will? Definitely not. But...again...there were definitely red flags in the case that the hospital had a duty to investigate, IMO.

The only person who I have a clear cut opinion of is the doctor who prescribed the insane dosages of ketamine and convinced the family to go to Mexico to put Maya in the coma. Same guy who told Beata that her daughter would die a "slow, painful death" if the hospital didn't give her the huge amounts of ketamine.

For anyone interested in the factual allegation on which the Kowalskis are relying, the COMPLAINT (most recently amended version) can be viewed here:

https://secure.sarasotaclerk.com/Search.aspx

Case No.: 2018 CA 005321 NC

Document Identification Number ("DIN"): 2816

(It doesn't look like all of the "Counts" that were recently struck / dismissed have been updated in red).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But then why did the hospital tell the mother and daughter they were lying about / making up the condition, and then billing their insurance for the treatment of this very condition? Is there no negligence / infliction on emotional distress in doing so?

To me, that’s an interesting question but the answer may be easily arguable and UNinteresting.
As in, can’t they claim they are observing her for this diagnosis, bc no other “explanation” can be found, but then also be skeptical that symptoms (absent the mother’s reminders) are not present to support it? It is not necessarily evidence that the hospital believes she has this condition—but rather they could argue that it’s evidence that they needed to enter a billing code and that is the closest they had to an explanation for why she is in the hospital at the time it was entered. What other code could they use? Is there an insurance billing code for “we think the diagnosis was based on symptoms that are imagined and pushed into the daughter by the mom—but we arent sure”? Maybe it should have been billed as psychiatric evaluation, but she was in the ICU, not psych ward…

At the end of the day, you could maybe argue insurance fraud? But that is a different lawsuit between the hospital and insurance company, right?

Maya has CRPS. She was diagnosed with it before she entered the hospital, and it was confirmed after Beata's death. The press accounts and the documentary briefly explain that it took her about two years of therapy and treatment after Beata's death before she was able to walk on her own. I understand that medical professionals are mandatory reporter, and that once the report is made, the matter might be mostly out of their hands. Still, after the report, Maya remained their patient, and they had a duty to do no harm. She was a little girl who was in pain who the hospital allowed to be cut off from her family and treated in an inappropriate way by a social worker. Perhaps the documentary does not present the entire picture, but the hospital seemed more concerned with winning a power struggle with Beata than with providing compassionate care to Maya.

1. We have no proof other than the family’s claims that it took her about two years of therapy and treatment after Beata's death before she was able to walk on her own. The family also said she was in pain in the hospital and we don’t see that.

2. ”…after the report, Maya remained their patient, and they had a duty to do no harm. She was a little girl who was in pain who the hospital allowed….” We don’t see her in pain in the hospital.

3. Court appearances were happening. If mom was claiming she had lesions and the hospital needed to show she didn’t- there is only one way to prove that negative. Pics showing no lesions.

The expert at Brown, Dr. Chopra, confirmed that she has CRPS. What more do you want? Chronic pain doesn't mean that you are screaming constantly.

What does that have to do with what I wrote? I responded to what the PP said. Here’s an example of why I think things were exaggerated in the hospital: the child said she was thinner after she left the hospital. First, that’s very normal at a hospital. Second, seeing her years later, it’s evident gaining weight or maintaining weight is not easily done. They claimed lesions during the hospital - none seen. They claimed crying, pain - no video of that. This doesn’t excuse anything on the other side…but I don’t think the kid, her family and mom are accurate reporters, either. I think they believe their side, but objectively, the truth is in the middle.

This has nothing to do with whether she has Crps.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But then why did the hospital tell the mother and daughter they were lying about / making up the condition, and then billing their insurance for the treatment of this very condition? Is there no negligence / infliction on emotional distress in doing so?

To me, that’s an interesting question but the answer may be easily arguable and UNinteresting.
As in, can’t they claim they are observing her for this diagnosis, bc no other “explanation” can be found, but then also be skeptical that symptoms (absent the mother’s reminders) are not present to support it? It is not necessarily evidence that the hospital believes she has this condition—but rather they could argue that it’s evidence that they needed to enter a billing code and that is the closest they had to an explanation for why she is in the hospital at the time it was entered. What other code could they use? Is there an insurance billing code for “we think the diagnosis was based on symptoms that are imagined and pushed into the daughter by the mom—but we arent sure”? Maybe it should have been billed as psychiatric evaluation, but she was in the ICU, not psych ward…

At the end of the day, you could maybe argue insurance fraud? But that is a different lawsuit between the hospital and insurance company, right?

Maya has CRPS. She was diagnosed with it before she entered the hospital, and it was confirmed after Beata's death. The press accounts and the documentary briefly explain that it took her about two years of therapy and treatment after Beata's death before she was able to walk on her own. I understand that medical professionals are mandatory reporter, and that once the report is made, the matter might be mostly out of their hands. Still, after the report, Maya remained their patient, and they had a duty to do no harm. She was a little girl who was in pain who the hospital allowed to be cut off from her family and treated in an inappropriate way by a social worker. Perhaps the documentary does not present the entire picture, but the hospital seemed more concerned with winning a power struggle with Beata than with providing compassionate care to Maya.

1. We have no proof other than the family’s claims that it took her about two years of therapy and treatment after Beata's death before she was able to walk on her own. The family also said she was in pain in the hospital and we don’t see that.

2. ”…after the report, Maya remained their patient, and they had a duty to do no harm. She was a little girl who was in pain who the hospital allowed….” We don’t see her in pain in the hospital.

3. Court appearances were happening. If mom was claiming she had lesions and the hospital needed to show she didn’t- there is only one way to prove that negative. Pics showing no lesions.

The expert at Brown, Dr. Chopra, confirmed that she has CRPS. What more do you want? Chronic pain doesn't mean that you are screaming constantly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But then why did the hospital tell the mother and daughter they were lying about / making up the condition, and then billing their insurance for the treatment of this very condition? Is there no negligence / infliction on emotional distress in doing so?

To me, that’s an interesting question but the answer may be easily arguable and UNinteresting.
As in, can’t they claim they are observing her for this diagnosis, bc no other “explanation” can be found, but then also be skeptical that symptoms (absent the mother’s reminders) are not present to support it? It is not necessarily evidence that the hospital believes she has this condition—but rather they could argue that it’s evidence that they needed to enter a billing code and that is the closest they had to an explanation for why she is in the hospital at the time it was entered. What other code could they use? Is there an insurance billing code for “we think the diagnosis was based on symptoms that are imagined and pushed into the daughter by the mom—but we arent sure”? Maybe it should have been billed as psychiatric evaluation, but she was in the ICU, not psych ward…

At the end of the day, you could maybe argue insurance fraud? But that is a different lawsuit between the hospital and insurance company, right?

Maya has CRPS. She was diagnosed with it before she entered the hospital, and it was confirmed after Beata's death. The press accounts and the documentary briefly explain that it took her about two years of therapy and treatment after Beata's death before she was able to walk on her own. I understand that medical professionals are mandatory reporter, and that once the report is made, the matter might be mostly out of their hands. Still, after the report, Maya remained their patient, and they had a duty to do no harm. She was a little girl who was in pain who the hospital allowed to be cut off from her family and treated in an inappropriate way by a social worker. Perhaps the documentary does not present the entire picture, but the hospital seemed more concerned with winning a power struggle with Beata than with providing compassionate care to Maya.

1. We have no proof other than the family’s claims that it took her about two years of therapy and treatment after Beata's death before she was able to walk on her own. The family also said she was in pain in the hospital and we don’t see that.

2. ”…after the report, Maya remained their patient, and they had a duty to do no harm. She was a little girl who was in pain who the hospital allowed….” We don’t see her in pain in the hospital.

3. Court appearances were happening. If mom was claiming she had lesions and the hospital needed to show she didn’t- there is only one way to prove that negative. Pics showing no lesions.

Except that, as I’ve read in the complaint, the very same hospital that filed a complaint against the mother was initially involved in placing the port and injecting the Ketamine - different doctors obviously.

Terrible tragedy all around.

I'm still not entirely sure if I feel like the hospital and CPS are deserving of 100% of the blame, I can also see it perhaps being more like 80% the hospital/CPS, 20% Beata. It's not quite as cut and dry as I think the documentary was trying to make it appear.

FWIW, my wife (a nurse) watched the first 10 minutes and when she heard about the ketamine she said "holy s@#$ that's some powerful stuff!" which is exactly how the hospital responded.

This was truly horrifying. Hearing Kyle crying during the 911 call broke me.

I've always thought that I could not go on if something happened to my child - I understand her choices.

Anonymous wrote:But then why did the hospital tell the mother and daughter they were lying about / making up the condition, and then billing their insurance for the treatment of this very condition? Is there no negligence / infliction on emotional distress in doing so?

Right. If the diagnosis was valid and the mom was asking for previously prescribed treatment, the hospital can’t claim abuse and can’t claim made up. So why was she referred to CPS?

They could have certainly denied her a treatment they were not comfortable providing. But the hospital did not handle this correctly.then cps and the judicial system made it way worse. There is no reason the mom couldn’t visit her kid. None.