The family of the young girl at the center of the new Netflix documentary, Take Care of Maya, is suing a Florida hospital for $220 million.
The streaming service premiered a medical documentary that follows a then-10-year-old girl named Maya Kowalski who started suffering from symptoms of a rare neurological condition.
Back in 2015, Maya's parents - Jack and Beata Kowalski - sought several medical professionals to desperately find out what was wrong with their little girl, and came across Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick who officially diagnosed her with CRPS (complex regional pain syndrome).
The professional then prescribed the child high doses of ketamine, but the drugs failed to work so the Kowalski family traveled to Monterrey, Mexico so that their little one could be put in a ketamine coma.
Watch this clip from the heartbreaking documentary:The treatment had temporary results as a year later, Maya relapsed and had crippling stomach pain so her parents rushed her to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Her parents explained to the medical team that Maya had CRPS, and Beata - who was a registered nurse - urged medics to administer a high dose of ketamine, the one treatment they believed was sufficient for their daughter's discomfort.
However, this request raised concerns among hospital staff who alerted a child abuse pediatrician named Dr. Sally Smith to carry out an investigation.
An investigative team later accused Beata of child abuse and of having Munchausen by proxy - a mental illness where a parent makes up symptoms or causes real symptoms to make it look like their child is ill.
As a result, the courts removed Maya from her family's custody despite a court-ordered psychological evaluation eventually determining that the mother did not have the mental illness.
Beata was still not allowed to see her daughter for over three months so she became increasingly despondent and ultimately ended up taking her own life.
"One day I was in the ICU, and my mom kissed me on the forehead and was like, 'I love you. I’ll see you tomorrow.' I never saw her again," Maya recalled to PEOPLE. "I was medically kidnapped. I tried being hopeful, but there was a point where I thought, 'I’m never getting out of this place.'"
The documentary fast-forwards to a now-17-year-old Maya, her father, and her brother Kyle seeking justice from the legal system.
According to the Daily Mail, AndersonGlenn LLP has launched a lawsuit against the hospital and a trial date has been set for September, with the Kowalski family seeking $55 million in compensatory and $165 million in punitive damages.
Gregory Anderson, who founded the firm in 1990, said the incidents of late 2016/early 2017 have had an "irreparable" impact on the grieving family.
"The horrific events from the October 7, 2016 admission through Maya's release on January 14, 2017, have been well-documented," Anderson told the outlet. "These events amount to an abduction, incarceration, and abuse of a 10-year-old girl. Her parents were irreparably defamed and damaged."
"Beata took her own life to free her daughter from 'care' by Johns Hopkins. The resulting litigation has been the worst I've seen," he said, revealing that when the incident took place in the fall, Maya was released from state custody on January 14, 2017.
"We were retained in the fall of 2017 and sent our first demand letters for information in December. We filed suit in 2018 - that was five years ago, five years of brutal litigation," he continued. "The Kowalskis have incurred millions in legal fees and costs. Maya, Jack, and Kyle will need medical care and therapy for the rest of their lives."
Maya spoke to PEOPLE about the family's upcoming trial and said: "For us as a family to move on, we need to fulfill my mom’s wish and fight," adding, "I want justice for my mom."
Take Care of Maya is available to watch on Netflix now.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please reach out for help and contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.