BRITAIN: A doctor who tried to help his friend commit suicide insisted yesterday he would do the same thing again.
Dr Michael Irwin travelled to the Isle of Man with the intention of giving his friend, Patrick Kneen, about 60 Temazepam sleeping pills to help him die.
But Mr Kneen, who had prostate cancer, was too ill to take the class C drug and died a few days later while in a coma.
As a General Medical Council hearing into his conduct began in London yesterday, Dr Irwin (74) said he would do the same again. The council heard that Dr Irwin admitted planning the suicide when questioned by Isle of Man police following Mr Kneen's death in October 2003.
A decision was taken not to proceed with the case but he received a caution for possessing the class C drug with intention to supply.
The GMC's fitness-to-practise panel heard Dr Irwin admit many of the charges against him yesterday, but he denied his actions were unprofessional.
Many doctors helped their patients to die by giving them diamorphine to make them comfortable in their final days, he said. This, he argued, was "slow euthanasia", otherwise known as terminal sedation, something he had carried out some 30 times during his profession. - (PA)