LONDON, September 27, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Dr. Michael Irwin, former chairman of the UK- based Voluntary Euthanasia Society (VES), who was arrested on charges of conspiracy to aid a terminally ill patient kill himself in 2003, has been disciplined by the UK’s General Medical Council, which struck his name off the medical register.
Irwin admitted to police that he conspired to kill Patrick Kneen, a retired farmer and Isle of Man resident. He later told London Telegraph reporters that Kneen died of his terminal prostate cancer before he was able to administer the lethal medications.
Although a doctor could face a sentence of up to 14 years in prison for assisting a suicide in the UK, Irwin was let off with a “caution” from police for possessing a Class C drug with intention to supply. The GMC panel concluded, however, that his actions constituted serious professional misconduct.
Irwin has already retired from medicine, although he continues his campaign to make euthanasia legal, admitting, “Whatever happens today I assure you I will continue to campaign to see a change in the law to legalise doctor assisted suicide,” according to a BBC report.
Head of the GMC panel, Professor Ken Hobbs, called Irwin’s writing a prescription for tranquilizers in his own name “an act of deception,” emphasizing that “in all circumstances you have abused your position as a doctor.”
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
British Doctor, Wife, Arrested for Assisted Suicide Conspiracy
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/dec/03121506.html
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