The head of the Australian Medical Association has apologised but says he won’t remove a controversial tweet on the assisted dying debate.

Dr Michael Gannon has come under fire for tweeting “don’t forever alter society ‘coz a few powerful people see parent die” with a link to an article.

He has been criticised for the tweet, in reference to Premier Daniel Andrews openly discussing his father’s death.

Dr Gannon told Neil Mitchell he was not trying to diminish the grief experienced by families and apologised if he had upset anyone.

“Those stories are very powerful, they are very personal and very profound,” he said.

“That’s the whole point of my statement, they can be so profound they can muddy the waters on a very difficult issue.”

He said he was concerned the focus of the debate had been lost.

“It’s a much bigger issue than the one being focussed on.”

Click PLAY to hear the full chat below