A Florida appeals court has vacated a $213 million judgment against St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in a case popularized by a Netflix documentary.
The family of Maya Kowalski had sued the hospital for claims including false imprisonment, wrongful death and medical negligence after the institution held the then-10-year-old under state custody in 2016, suspecting her mother, Beata, of Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Beata later died by suicide, and the family’s story became the subject of the documentary “Take Care of Maya.”
In 2023, a jury awarded the family $261 million (later lowered to $213 million) before the hospital appealed. The District Court of Appeal of Florida for the Second District threw out the judgment Oct. 29, citing a state statute that protects people and organizations required to report suspected child abuse.
“This opinion sends a clear and vital message to mandatory reporters in Florida and across the country that their duty to report suspicions of child abuse and, critically, their good faith participation in child protection activities remain protected,” hospital attorney Ethen Shapiro of Hill Ward Henderson told Becker’s. “We look forward to vigorously defending our doctors, nurses, and staff in a fair trial on the few remaining claims after rigorous and proper application of immunity.
“We thank the judges for their time and attention to this matter, and we appreciate that they understood what many did not: that a one-sided movie is no substitute for a fair judicial process.”
Becker’s reached out to Netflix and the family’s appeals lawyer for comment.
“As former counsel, we’re disappointed in the result,” attorney Jennifer Anderson, who represented the family in the original case, told Becker’s.
