Inside the life of Maya Kowalski after the pained teen partied over Halloween, sparking more arguments in her family's $220million case against the hospital that treated her

Teenager Maya Kowalskicontinues to hit the headlines as her family remains locked in a $220million dispute with the hospital that once treated her.

The controversial case in which the Kowalski family is alleging malpractice at Johns Hopkins All Medical Center in Florida continues and was once the centre of the 'Take Care of Maya' Netflix documentary. The suit claims Maya continues to suffer from a debilitating condition, that she was wrongly separated from her mother and that hospital staff did not pay enough attention to the complaints when she was under their care.

Lawyers this week entered pictures from the Halloween and Homecoming weekend showing Maya partying with friends. Maya said she felt obligated to go and continues to struggle with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), while hospital lawyers say the photographs show a "complete contradiction to her testimony."

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Maya Kowalski in court (

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Who is Maya Kowalski?

Maya Kowalski became famous for her life as a child, documented in the Netflix programme Take Care of Maya. At the age of 10, Maya was admitted to the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida with abdominal pain.

Parents Beata and Jack Kowalski said she was suffering from a condition in which pain continues after the expected time for tissue to heal. They said the pain affected her feet and legs, causing her to need a wheelchair.

The Kowalski case

After she was admitted in October 2016, Maya spent a day writhing in pain while in intensive care. A nurse then tried to conduct an ultrasound, but this would not be possible without a strong cocktail of drugs that included ketamine, according to her mother.

The Kowalski family (

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Maya partying (

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A doctor who had previously prescribed the treatment testified it was medically sound, but Dr Elliott Krane, Emeritus Professor of Anesthesiology and Chief of Pain Management at Stanford School of Medicine, told jurors it was dangerous and not used in the US.

A nurse then contacted a social worker who met with the parents, Debra Hansen, who said it was strange for a parent to ask for treatment without allowing a normal test to be carried out. This, the social worker suspected, was a sign of neglect.

Florida’s Department of Children and Families said the report contained a lack of evidence, but a pediatrician consulted with an expert. They said Maya cried less when her mother was not in the room and that the ketamine request involved a huge dose of it.

Maya is said to suffer from a debilitating condition that causes extreme pain (

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A report was then submitted, in which Beata was said to have "mental issues" and doctors believed she was suffering from Munchausen by Proxy syndrome, a condition in which mothers claim their child is ill so they receive attention.

Doctors found Maya's parents had once taken her to Hospital San José Tecnologico in Monterrey, Mexico. She was taken for a procedure in which she received large doses of ketamine.

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Doctors began to suspect Maya was being made ill so Beata could receive attention. Growing concerned, the parents attempted to discharge their daughter again medical advice and doctors warned they would be arrested.

Later, the state formally moved to enforce a shelter offer, in which Maya would be kept in the hospital and away from her mum and dad. Jack Kowalski was informed his child was in state control as he was clearing faeces up from the floor because young Maya had lost control of her bowels.

Maya and Beata (

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The parents were allowed some contact with their daughter through audio and video calls, but hospital staff began to impose their own restrictions. Daily social calls went from daily to just once a week and social workers wouldn't allow Jack to visit with a family member supervising.

In a horror incident that followed, Maya's social worker Cathy Bedy entered the girl's room with a nurse and ordered her to take her clothes off so the hospital's risk-management department could conduct a check. "I was crying and saying, ‘No, stop,' but she wouldn’t stop. Bedy pinned me face down and either she or the nurse took photos of me in my training bra and shorts," Maya wrote in a legal filing.

Beata Kowalski killed herself in the garage of the family home in January 2017. Her suicide note read: "I’m sorry, but I no longer can take the pain being away from Maya and being treated like a criminal.

"I cannot watch my daughter suffer in pain and keep getting worse while my hands are tied by the state of FL and the judge!"

The Kowalski family claims they were victims of malpractice (

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The case became the focus of a Netflix documentary (

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Now, the Kowalski family claims they were victims of malpractice in a massive suit and Maya Kowalski testified she still suffers from the condition.

Recently, Maya Kowalski was spotted out and about just days after she avoided appearing at a malpractice trial in which her attorneys said she was too pain-ridden. According to Court TV, lawyer Gregory Anderson said: "It’s been horrible... Maya has CRPS lesions reappearing. It’s not good."

But hospital attorney Ethen Shapiro said the social media pictures of Homecoming and Halloween that emerged over the weekend show Maya was in a good and healthy condition.

"This is the life of Maya Kowalski today," he told the judge. "We did not aggravate a preexisting condition. She’s at her prom, she’s out in heels, has friends — it’s in complete contradiction to her testimony." Maya's lawyers said the photos should not be entered into evidence, but allowed two of them to be. The photo of Maya at Halloween was not admitted.

On the witness stand, Maya said: “I got my dress the day before Homecoming, because I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to go. That was dependent on my physical condition and my mental condition."

The case continues.