‘Take Care of Maya’ protagonist ups ante with criminal charge
Less than a week after the famous Kowalski family won a $261 million civil judgment against a Johns Hopkins facility in Florida, Maya Kowalski is announcing she will slap the hospital with a criminal complaint alleging sexual assault.
Maya is the teenager whose family’s ordeal gained wide notoriety through the Netflix documentary “Take Care of Maya.”
The odyssey began in 2015, when Maya was admitted to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg. She was 10 years old. The film shows the family wending its way through difficulties and setbacks in diagnosing and treating her initial presenting disease. It reached a tragic low in 2017 with the suicide of Maya’s mother, Beata, at the age of 43.
Last week a jury deemed the hospital liable for the wrongful death of Beata and for several other harms. These included false imprisonment, battery and emotional abuse of Maya, along with fraudulent billing of her father, Jack Kowalski.
This week the family’s attorney announced he will take things further on Maya’s behalf.
In comments made to Court TV Nov. 13, Gregory Anderson, JD, backs Maya’s claim that, fairly early on in her hospitalization, a male physician—or a man impersonating a doctor—committed a lewd act while alone with Maya in her hospital room.
According to Scripps News, Maya swore to the truthfulness of the complaint at the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office on Nov. 10. That was the day after the jury handed down the $261 million judgment.
Anderson says he plans to file a formal criminal complaint for Maya by the end of this week.
Speaking in defense of Johns Hopkins All Children’s, an attorney says the hospital investigated the sexual assault accusation of its own accord.
The attorney, Ethen Shapiro, JD, of Hill Ward Henderson, tells Court TV:
“As soon as the hospital became aware of the allegations, and in accordance with their policies, they immediately initiated an internal investigation and contacted law enforcement last month. Federal privacy laws restrict Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital from sharing more, but the hospital takes allegations of this nature very seriously and always puts the safety of their patients above all else.”
Full Court TV coverage here.
Dave P. has worked in journalism, marketing and public relations for more than 30 years, frequently concentrating on hospitals, healthcare technology and Catholic communications. He has also specialized in fundraising communications, ghostwriting for CEOs of local, national and global charities, nonprofits and foundations.