London - A prominent proeuthanasia doctor has admitted helping as many as 50 terminally-ill patients to die, but denied he supplied a plastic bag to asphyxiate a dying patient.
Dr Michael Irwin, a former medical director of the United Nations and chairman of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, claimed the cases he referred to were cases of the "double effect principle" rather than euthanasia. "Double effect is where doctors will prescribe pain killers or sedatives so that increasing doses are given to kill the pain and, incidentally, the patient dies. Most good doctors have done this. I have helped about 50 people in this manner," he said. Dr Stuart Horner, chairman of the BMA's medical ethics committee, called for a murder investigation, saying: "I call this execution, which it clearly is. I think both the GMC and the police would be failing in their duty if they did not look into these allegations."