UK Health Secretary orders probe into child euthanasia

An urgent inquiry has been launched in Britain into allegations that British doctors have secretly given deadly overdoses to terminally ill children in unlawful mercy killings.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt ordered the probe and pledged to investigate “whether the law was broken” after retired GP Michael Irwin claimed during a debate on LBC radio that UK medics illegally helped two sick children to die.

The retired doctor said that this has occured “in this country, very quietly. I know of one or two children over the last few years,” adding, “It has been done under the pretext of what we call Double Effect where the child has been given huge doses of painkillers and so on, in order to relieve discomfort, pain and other symptoms.”

Euthanasia is the assisted suicide of terminally ill people. Michael Irwin’s allegation came just hours after for the first time in the world’s history, Belgian lawmakers overwhelmingly endorsed a bill, which allows euthanasia in the case of children.

Before this endorsement, it was permitted to help a child die at the age of 12 in Holland. Belgium used to allow the procedure at the age of 18, but now the country’s MPs have voted to scrap the limit altogether.

In Britain, Euthanasia is illegal at all ages, and anyone found guilty of being involved could be imprisoned for life.

The Health Secretary reacted to the claims, saying that he was not aware of the specific cases.

Previously, assisted suicide campaigner Irwin, 82, has claimed to have helped multiple people die at the Dignitas clinic in Zurich, Switzerland.