Dr. Sally Smith Testified In The Kowalski Family Vs. Johns Hopkins Hospital Trial

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Take Care Of Maya, a 2023 Netflix documentary, recounts the confusing and heartbreaking story of the Kowalski family between 2016 and 2017. In October 2016, Maya Kowalski was admitted to John Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida. At the time, the 10-year-old and her parents, Beata and Jack Kowalski, were dealing with her complicated chronic pain diagnosis: complex regional pain syndrome, or CRPS. CRPS is a rare condition that causes extreme, often burning, pain in the extremities, but can be alleviated with doses of ketamine.

Beata was particularly invested in her daughter's illness and was, from the All Children's doctors perspectives, pushy in treating her daughter's pain with abnormally high doses of ketamine.

Sally Smith, a doctor for Child Protective Services, evaluated Maya's condition and misdiagnosed her with Munchausen's by proxy, which led to the child being separated from her parents with limited contact. Maya was held for almost 90 days at John Hopkins All Children's Hospital over suspicion of child abuse.

Here is everything to know about Dr. Sally Smith's connection to the Kowalski family's case.

Where is Dr. Sally Smith now?

Smith never faced any formal, professional consequences for what happened to the Kowalski family. However, Smith retired in summer 2023, according to The Cut. Nonetheless, Smith has been at the center of controversy for wrongfully accusing over a dozen other parents of child abuse, per Fox 13 Tampa Bay.

In 2018, The Kowalskis sued Smith and the company she worked for, Suncoast Advocacy Services, as well as Cathi Bedy, the social worker assigned to Maya's case.

Smith and Suncoast settled their portion of the case for $2.5 million. The Kowalskis also sued the hospital, and Smith testified in the Kowalski trial a few weeks ago, per COURT TV. On Nov. 9, John Hopkins All Children's Hospital was found liable for all seven claims levied against it, and the Kowalskis were awarded over $261 million in damages, Fox 13 Tampa Bay reported.

Take Care Of Maya states that the Kowalskis' case was made much stronger by Beata's documentation of nearly every conversation she had with her daughter and the hospital during Maya's stay at All Children's.

Does Dr. Sally Smith still work for Johns Hopkins?

An attorney for the hospital also says that Johns Hopkins still trusts Smith.

"Dr. Smith is a very competent, very professional, and a very valued member of our medical staff," Howard Hunter, an attorney for Johns Hopkins, told Fox 13. "She is an independent pediatrician who is on our staff as a consultant and an admitting physician."

Hunter reiterated that Smith has never been an official employee of Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital.

Dr. Sally Smith was regarded as a "doyenne of her field."

Most doctors in Pinellas County, where All Children's is located, regarded Smith as the "doyenne of her field," according to The Cut. Smith was formally asked to investigate Maya's case after a report was made about the Kowalskis, claiming Beata “is believed to have mental issues."

Smith investigated Maya's medical records thoroughly. After discovering Maya had been to about 30 doctors and received a five-day ketamine coma treatment in Mexico, she deemed the Kowalskis to be "doctor shopping" and made an assumption of medical abuse. She theorized that Maya's mysterious, unexplainable pain was not real—and formally diagnosed her with Munchausen's by proxy (a mental disorder that is often linked to child abuse).

It's worth noting that Smith removed children from their homes at one of the highest rates of Florida's counties. Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick, who first diagnosed Maya with CRPS, confirmed her diagnosis to Smith in her initial investigation. He also formally warned that a child abuse case would cause "needless and permanent harm to the child and family," per The Cut. Smith filed the case without including Dr. Kirkpatrick's warnings.

After Maya's symptoms did not improve while separated from her parents, her Munchausen's by proxy diagnosis was withdrawn, and Smith and other doctors began to believe she was entirely fabricating her symptoms, per The Cut. Beata was also formally evaluated for the diagnosis, and was diagnosed with a depressive mood and adjustment disorder upon being separated from her daughter.

The Kowalskis were not the only family troubled by Smith's professional opinions.

At the end of Take Care of Maya, a few other families were interviewed about their experiences dealing with being wrongfully accused of child abuse by Smith. According to USA Today, Smith has wrongfully jailed parents for false claims of child abuse and removed children from their parents' care after evaluations that lasted less than 10 minutes. In the documentary, parents claimed their lives were permanently damaged by Smith's accusations.

Smith held her position in Child Protective Services for over 20 years, and was highly regarded by colleagues, per USA Today. She was thought to have an "impossible" role: constantly balancing the protection of a child with the innocence of their parents.

In the same article, Smith denied any problems with her work.

To learn more about the Kowalski's case and Dr. Smith's involvement, you can stream Take Care of Maya on Netflix.

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