POTTSVILLE, Pa. - A judge has upheld charges against a Philadelphia woman accused of helping her 93-year-old father commit suicide through a morphine overdose.
Prosecutors in Schuylkill County have charged 57-year-old nurse Barbara Mancini with aiding suicide.
A judge refused to drop the charges after a preliminary hearing Thursday.
Pottsville police say Mancini handed Joseph Yourshaw a bottle of liquid morphine at his home in February, leading to his death four days later.
Mancini remains free on bail. A phone at her lawyer's office rang unanswered Thursday evening and he could not be reached for comment.
An advocacy group called Compassion & Choice supports Mancini and says her father had end-stage diabetes and heart problems.
The group says the U.S. Supreme Court allows dying patients to receive adequate pain relief, even if it hastens their death.