Mother Released From Hospital, Taken To Jail After Overdosing While Pregnant
BUTLER, Pa. (KDKA) -- A woman accused of overdosing heroin while pregnant is now out of the hospital, but her newborn baby remains on life support and faces an uncertain future that could play out in court.
Kasey Dischman, 30, told police from her bed at Magee-Womens Hospital, with her baby on life support down the hall, that last Thursday night in her apartment in East Butler, she found a single stamp bag of heroin in the couch.
Despite being seven months pregnant, she says she went into the bathroom and injected herself with the drug.
"It tells me the severity of someone's addiction. It tells me the severity of our opioid problem," said Lt. Eric Hermick, of Pennsylvania State Police.
Dischman almost died. Investigators say the situation was made worse by the baby's father, Andy Lucas, who told responding medics she was having a seizure and didn't mention the heroin.
"That kind of threw things into neutral with the medics," said Lt. Hermick. "They didn't know how to treat this individual they were transporting."
It wasn't until Dischman arrived at UPMC Mercy Hospital that a test revealed the opioids. Once Dischman was alert the next day, she was transferred to Magee, where the baby girl was taken by emergency C-section and remains on life support.
The doctors have told police there is no brain activity.
"Someone has to be responsible for this child, and medically speaking, decisions are going to have to be made and we need to see who has the authority to do that," said Lt. Hermick.
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Dischman is now in the Butler County Prison after being released from the hospital Wednesday night. She is being held on $500,000 bond and a probation charge, and could face a homicide charge if the baby is declared dead.
Lucas is in the state prison in Mercer County and could also face charges if the baby girl dies.
"Based on his false information to the medics, which delayed her proper medical care, could also be contributing factor in this case," Lt. Hermick said.
Police, the prosecutor and Children and Youth Services are all working together to determine who can make decisions on the child's medical care. Ultimately, it could be made by a judge.