YOUNGSTOWN Overdose leaves baby's condition critical

The child's grandmother told police she got the drugs off the street.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 15-month-old baby boy was in critical condition early today at Forum Health Tod Children's Hospital after overdosing last week on the prescription painkiller OxyContin, city police said.
Police said information they had showed that the child was brain dead. A man who answered the phone at the Girard home of the baby's parents said they were considering removing the child from life support. He identified himself as the boy's grandfather.
Grandmother arrested: The child's 44-year-old maternal grandmother was arrested Saturday and charged with child endangering and drug abuse after police found suspected OxyContin and other loose pills in her home, in the 2700 block of Julian Street, police reports show.
The child has been living in the South Side home with his grandparents for several weeks, reports show.
The suspect told police she takes OxyContin for pain and does not have a prescription but buys it on the street, police reports show.
Police were called to the hospital Friday, where the child had been taken by ambulance for a vitamin overdose. An emergency room doctor told police they had discovered that the child had overdosed on OxyContin, police reports say.
The child's maternal grandfather said he had checked on the child at 3 a.m. Friday and he was fine, police reports show. When he checked on the child again at 11 a.m., he was turning blue. He told police there were no prescriptions in the home, only aspirin.
Many painkillers: The couple's 15-year-old son later said there were many prescription painkillers in the home, kept in bottles on the refrigerator and microwave, police said. Besides the 15-year-old son and the baby, the couple's 2 1/2 -year-old granddaughter also lives at the residence.
The young children's mother, 18, said she had last seen her children three or four days before the overdose, police said. She said they had been staying with the grandmother for the past three or four weeks. She said her mother uses OxyContin and has been known to have it around.
The baby's father, 22, of the same Girard address, said he and his mother had been to the Julian Street home and saw the maternal grandmother high on drugs and unaware of her surroundings, police reports show.
Both said the woman had been taking drugs for the past four years.
Police were unable to locate the woman at her home Friday. On Saturday, they were called to the home, where the paternal grandmother was arguing with the suspect.
viviano@vindy.com