Medical associations back Johns Hopkins All Children's in 'Netflix' appeal

St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital has gained additional support for its appeal in a case that was made famous by a Netflix documentary. 

According to the Florida Appellate online docket, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Children's Hospital Association and the Florida Hospital Association have all submitted amicus briefs in support of the hospital. The Florida Hospital Association submitted its own brief, while the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association jointly filed another.

Here are eight things to know about the appeal:

1. "If healthcare providers can be held liable for damages stemming from a good-faith and appropriate report of suspected child abuse, the consequences could be devastating. Removing a child from a parent's custody is disruptive and traumatic to both parent and child— but it can also be lifesaving," the American Academy of Pediatrics and Children's Hospital Association's brief reads. "The stakes are extraordinarily high. It is precisely because of the gravity of the accusation of child abuse that mandatory reporting laws are necessary."
   
   
2. "In this case, the trial court found as a matter of law, that John Hopkins All Children's Hospital had a reasonable basis for suspecting that their patient was the subject of child abuse; that the hospital acted in good faith in reporting that suspicion; and that the hospital could not be held liable for any cause of action directly arising from sheltering the child pursuant to a court order," the Florida Hospital Association brief reads. "Unfortunately, these findings were rendered meaningless at the trial itself when the court permitted plaintiff to attack the hospital's basis for suspecting abuse, its motives for reporting that suspicion, and present evidence to the jury of the psychological impact of the court-ordered sheltering period."
   
   
3. On Aug. 2, Johns Hopkins submitted an appeal to Florida's 2nd District Court of Appeal requesting the court overturn the final judgment issued by Sarasota Circuit Court Judge Hunter Carroll.
   
   
4. The judgment awarded the Kowalski family, who filed a lawsuit against the hospital in 2018, $208 million in compensatory and punitive damages. The hospital seeks a ruling in its favor regarding the claims of wrongful death, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment.
   
   
5. The hospital is also seeking a new trial, arguing that the trial court misinterpreted Chapter 39 immunity statutes. Additionally, All Children's is contesting the damages awarded to the Kowalski family and aims to address any claims that persist after the appeal.
   
   
6. The appeal follows a verdict in which a six-person jury awarded the Kowalski family more than $261 million in compensatory and punitive damages against the hospital after a two-month trial in 2023.
   
   
7. The Kowlaski family sued All Children's in 2018 after the hospital reported Beata Kowalski, the mother of Maya Kowalski, a patient at the hospital, for suspected child abuse in 2016 after she requested ketamine to treat her daughter for chronic pain. The girl was removed by the state and sheltered at the hospital for three months, during which Beata Kowalski died by suicide.
   
   
8. A Netflix documentary titled "Take Care of Maya," released in June 2023, covered the saga and was viewed nearly 14 million times in the first two weeks of its debut.