Take Care of Maya is a 2023 American documentary film directed by Henry Roosevelt. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 10, 2023, and was released on Netflix on June 19, 2023.
Synopsis
Jack Kowalski is being interviewed about his wife, Beata. Beata (née Zurawska) was born in the Polish People's Republic and immigrated to the United States at the age of 16. After marrying, Jack and Beata had two children: a daughter named Maya and a son named Kyle. They lived in Venice, Florida.
In early 2015, at the age of 10, Maya begins experiencing breathing problems, headaches, blurred vision, chest congestion, skin lesions, lower limb dystonia, and debilitating chronic pain. The family visits various doctors and hospitals, but receives no firm diagnosis of Maya's illness. Beata, an infusion nurse who had been meticulously documenting every appointment, searches the Internet for answers until eventually discovering anesthesiologist Dr. Anthony Kirkpatrick in September 2015. Dr. Kirkpatrick diagnoses Maya with advanced complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a disease that can be treated with ketamine.
After low doses of ketamine prove to be ineffective, Dr. Kirkpatrick recommends a ketamine coma, whereby Maya would be given a large amount of ketamine to induce a five-day coma. After a successful ketamine coma, Maya's pain and symptoms drastically improve. The Kowalskis cannot afford to continue Dr. Kirkpatrick's treatments, however, and are instead recommended to the care of Dr. Ashraf Hanna, who prescribes 1,000 mg of ketamine daily for Maya. For a year, Maya's symptoms are minimal and the family returns to normalcy.
During Hurricane Matthew in October 2016, Maya relapses severely and Jack takes her to the emergency room at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital while Beata is at work. The staff at the hospital are unfamiliar with CRPS and are concerned at the amount of ketamine that Maya has been receiving. After Beata arrives at the hospital, the physicians comment that she is "belligerent," "demanding," and "controlling" regarding Maya's treatments. The hospital staff treat Maya, with little improvement, and begin to question the validity of Maya's diagnosis. Beata is frustrated with the care that Maya is receiving and talks of leaving the hospital. The staff, on suspicion that Maya is a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, contact child protective services.
Without revealing her identity or the nature of the interview, Dr. Sally Smith, a child abuse pediatrician, interviews Maya and her father and comes to the conclusion that Beata is abusing Maya. A nurse informs Jack that Maya is now under state custody and orders him to leave. The Kowalskis hire a lawyer, Debra Salisbury, who tells them that cases like theirs are common. Florida's child welfare system is privatized, and Salisbury finds out that Dr. Smith works for the Suncoast Center, which provides services to Pinellas County—where Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital is located. Salisbury also finds out that children in Pinellas County are almost two and a half times as likely to be removed from their families when compared to the state average in Florida.
Maya is confined to the hospital without her parents. Beata is unable to speak with Maya over the phone, which frustrates her and causes her to criticize the hospital staff. Beata and Jack get into heated arguments as Jack urges her not to create more tension with the hospital. A judge issues a no-contact order between Beata and Maya. After four days, Jack is allowed to visit Maya in the hospital under strict conditions, and he is distressed at the sight of his daughter's condition worsening. Without the ketamine treatments, Dr. Kirkpatrick informs the Kowalskis that Maya's prolonged severe pain could cause her death. When Beata is finally allowed to speak with Maya on the phone, she must do so under the strict supervision of Cathi Bedy, a social worker. Jack searches Bedy on the Internet and finds out that she had previously been arrested for child abuse. After one phone call where Maya cries for her mother and expresses wanting to go home, Bedy tries to get Beata's calling privileges revoked.