Teen Accuses Hospital of ‘Medical Kidnapping’ After Her Mom Died By Suicide
Maya Kowalski's mother was falsely accused of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, wherein an attention-seeking caregiver imagines symptoms or makes them worse.
JusticePolitics
Last year, the story of Maya Kowalski—a young girl whose suffering from a series of strange symptoms including severe pain that spanned her body culminated in a hospital falsely accusing her mother of Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSP)—shocked the internet. Kowalski’s mother, accused of attention-seeking and child abuse because medical personnel at John’s Hopkins Children’s Hospital speculated whether her daughter’s symptoms were real or had occurred naturally, died by suicide. Now, the 17-year-old is speaking out, as her family’s gut-wrenching struggles will be aired in a new Netflix documentary, Take Care of Maya, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival this month and streaming on June 19.
In a People cover story, Kowalski and her father, Jack, start from the beginning, detailing how, at just 9 years old, the girl was struck by innumerable ailments—from asthma attacks to headaches to lesions on her extremities—that left doctors with more questions than answers. One physician went so far as to suggest she was imagining them. “But Maya would be crying 24/7,” Jack told the magazine. “We knew she wasn’t faking.”
Eventually, Kowalski’s mother, Beata, learned of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a rare neurological condition that inflicts constant or intermittent pain in its host’s arms and legs. Severe sensitivity to touch is also a symptom of the condition, meaning those affected are prone to routine, excruciating discomfort. Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick, a Tampa-based anesthesiologist and pharmacologist in Tampa who specializes in CRPS, officially diagnosed Maya with the condition in 2015.