Michael Henry Knox Irwin (born 5 June 1931) is a British doctor, formerly a
GP and a Medical Director with the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
. He is a
humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
and secular activist, campaigning in particular for
voluntary euthanasia
Voluntary euthanasia (VE) is the ending of a person's life at their request in order to relieve them of suffering. Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS) have been the focus of intense debate in recent years.
Some forms of ...
and
doctor-assisted suicide
Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...
.
Career
Irwin was trained at
St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, London (graduating in 1955), and at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, New York. He was awarded a master's degree in public health from the latter in 1960.
He worked at Prince of Wales Hospital, London, from 1955 to 1956. In 1957 he became Medical Officer at the United Nations. In 1961 he worked with the UN in
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, returning to his Medical Officer post in 1963 and rising to become Medical Director of the United Nations in 1969. He became Director of Personnel at the
United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
in 1973. In 1977, he was the UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh. From 1980 to 1982, Irwin was the UNICEF Senior Adviser on Childhood Disabilities. In 1982, he returned to the United Nations to become Medical Director again. In 1989 and 1990, he was the Medical Director for the World Bank and the IMF.
He was struck off by the UK
General Medical Council
The General Medical Council (GMC) is a public body that maintains the official register of medical practitioners within the United Kingdom. Its chief responsibility is to "protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public" by c ...
in 2005 after openly admitting travelling to the Isle of Man in October 2003 to assist fellow campaigner Patrick Kneen to end his life. Irwin was arrested by the Isle of Man police for this activity in December 2003, but he was never charged.
In April 1990 Irwin resigned from the World Bank. He wrote an article for ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' which detailed his complaints about the Bank. He cited in particular "the Bank's bloated, overpaid bureaucracy, its wasteful practices, and its generally poor management."
Returning to the UK in 1993, Irwin became the Vice-Chairman of the United Nations Association in 1995, and its chairman from 1996 to 1998.
Campaigning
Irwin is an active supporter of euthanasia, humanism and secularism. He was interviewed by
Ritula Shah about such matters in the
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
series ''One to One'' on 21 May 2013.
Voluntary euthanasia
From 1995 to 2003, Irwin was either the vice-chairman or the Chairman of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society (now, renamed Dignity in Dying).
In November 1999 Irwin stood as a "Campaign for Living Will Legislation" candidate in the
Kensington and Chelsea parliamentary by-election occasioned by the death of MP
Alan Clark
Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 – 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), author and diarist. He served as a junior minister in Margaret Thatcher's governments at the Departments of Employment, Tra ...
. Polling took place on 25 November, and Irwin gained 97 votes, putting him 9th out of 18 candidates.
Michael Portillo
Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo (; born 26 May 1953) is a British journalist, broadcaster and former politician. His broadcast series include railway documentaries such as ''Great British Railway Journeys'' and '' Great Continental Railway Journ ...
was elected.
Irwin was President of the
World Federation of Right to Die Societies
The World Federation of Right to Die Societies is an international federation of associations that promote access to voluntary euthanasia. It holds regular international meetings on dying and death.
The World Federation, founded in 1980, consists ...
from 2002 to 2004, and a Director of that organisation from 2004 to 2006.
In December 2009, Irwin established the
Society for Old Age Rational Suicide (SOARS) which is promoting a discussion on the possibility of elderly, competent individuals, who are suffering from various medical problems, having a doctor legally end their lives, if this is their persistent request. From 2009 to August 2015 he was the Coordinator of this organisation. In October 2015 he was made a Patron of SOARS.
Since 2005 Irwin has accompanied four individuals from the UK to Switzerland to witness their doctor-assisted suicides there. In 2009 he was arrested for partially financing the trip of Raymond Cutkelvin to Dignitas, but after a year on bail, he was not charged.
Secularism and humanism
Irwin is a Patron of
Humanists UK
Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious be ...
and an honorary associate of the
National Secular Society
The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...
.
Since 2005 Irwin has sponsored the
National Secular Society
The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...
's £5000
Secularist of the Year Secularist of the Year, also known as the Irwin Prize, is an award presented annually by the National Secular Society in "recognition of an individual or an organisation considered to have made an outstanding contribution to the secularist movement. ...
award, which is known as the Irwin Prize. In 2006 he founded the
Secular Medical Forumbr>
and was its Coordinator for three years.
On 15 September 2010, Irwin, along with 54 other public figures, signed an open letter published in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', stating their opposition to
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
's state visit to the UK.
Personal life
Irwin's father was William Knox Irwin
FRCS
Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal C ...
, a surgeon and author of medical textbooks. Michael Irwin married Elizabeth Naumann in 1958; the marriage was dissolved in 1982. He married Frederica Harlow in 1983. He later married Patricia Walters in 1994 – they divorced in 2000. His current partner is Angela Farmer. He has three daughters.
See also
*
Assisted suicide in the United Kingdom
Assisted suicide is the ending of one's own life with the assistance of another. Physician-assisted suicide is medical assistance in helping another person end their own life for the purpose of relieving their suffering, and voluntary euthanasi ...
*
Euthanasia in the United Kingdom
Active euthanasia is illegal in the United Kingdom.
Passive euthanasia
Although it is an offence to actively end a patient's life, many doctors still assist their patients with their wishes by withholding treatment and reducing pain, "accordin ...
Publications
Collected essays (editor)
*''"I'll See Myself Out, Thank You": Thirty personal views in support of assisted suicide.'' Skyscraper Publications, 2015
"Family Doctor" booklets
*''Travelling Without Tears.'' London: British Medical Association, 1964. pp. 30.
*''The Truth About Cancer.'' London: British Medical Association, 1969. pp. 31.
Public affairs pamphlets
*''Check-ups: safeguarding your health.'' no.314. New York: Public Affairs Committee, 1961. pp. 18.
*''Overweight: a problem for millions.'' no.364. New York: Public Affairs Committee, 1964. pp. 20.
*''Blood: new uses for saving lives.'' no.377. New York: Public Affairs Committee, 1965. pp. 28.
*''Viruses, Colds, and Flu.'' no.395. New York: Public Affairs Committee, 1966. pp. 20.
*''What Do We Know About Allergies?'' no. 486. New York: Public Affairs Committee, 1972. pp. 28.
*''Overweight: a problem for millions.'' Revised edition. no.364a. New York: Public Affairs Committee, 1973. pp. 24.
*''Aspirin: current knowledge about an old medication.'' no. 614. New York: Public Affairs Committee, 1983. pp. 24.
*''Can We Survive Nuclear War?'' no.625. New York: Public Affairs Committee, 1984. pp. 28.
*''Nuclear Energy, Good or Bad?'' no.629. New York: Public Affairs Committee, 1984. pp. 29.
*''Risks to Health and Safety on the Job.'' no. 644. New York: Public Affairs Committee, 1986. pp. 28.
Criticism of the World Bank
''Banking on Poverty: An Insider's Look at the World Bank'', Cato Foreign Policy Briefing 3, 20 September 1990. Reprinted as Chapter 31 of Danaher, Kevin (1994). ''50 Years is Enough: the case against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.'' Boston, MA:
South End Press
South End Press was a non-profit book publisher run on a model of participatory economics. It was founded in 1977 by Michael Albert, Lydia Sargent, Juliet Schor, among others, in Boston's South End. It published books written by political activi ...
. pp. 152–160.
References
Life
New York Times coverage of Irwin's marriage to Frederica Harlow, 10 April 1983
Voluntary euthanasia
*
ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4286470.stm Euthanasia doctor is struck off BBC news, 27 September 2005
Euthanasia campaigner to stand in byelection British Medical Journal
''The BMJ'' is a weekly peer-reviewed medical trade journal, published by the trade union the British Medical Association (BMA). ''The BMJ'' has editorial freedom from the BMA. It is one of the world's oldest general medical journals. Origi ...
, 30 October 1999
Secularism and humanism
BHA profile of Dr Michael Irwin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Michael
1931 births
Living people
Assisted suicide
British activists
British humanists
20th-century British medical doctors
British secularists
Euthanasia in the United Kingdom
Euthanasia activists
Medical doctors struck off by the General Medical Council