What happened to Dr Sally Smith after ‘Take Care Of Maya’?

nme.com:

Take Care Of Maya has become one of the most talked-about documentaries of the year.Directed by Henry Roosevelt, the Netflix documentary follows the story of Maya Kowalski who, after being admitted to hospital with crippling stomach pain in 2016, was separated from her parents and left trapped within a healthcare system which tore her family apart.A synopsis reads: “As the medical team tried to understand her rare illness, they began to question the basic truths that bound the Kowalskis together.

Suddenly, Maya was in state custody – despite two parents who were desperate to bring their daughter home.“The story of the Kowalski family – as told in their own words – will change the way you look at children’s healthcare forever.”After Maya, aged 10, was rushed to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in 2016, the medical staff consulted Dr Sally Smith, a doctor from child protective services, following concerns about Maya’s CRPS diagnosis and ketamine treatment.

Smith then filed a report which accused Maya’s mum Beata of child abuse, citing Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy, a mental disorder in which a caregiver fakes or causes symptoms to make a child look sick.Maya was placed in state custody and separated from her parents as an investigation into the allegation took place.

Beata was later determined to not have an illness, but died by suicide 87 days after she was separated from her daughter.As we see later in the documentary, other families beyond the Kowalskis have been impacted by Smith’s incorrect allegations of child abuse.