Arthur Henry Douthwaite
Arthur Henry Douthwaite (13 February 1896 – 24 September 1974) was a British medical doctor, Vice President of the Royal College of Physicians and a prolific medical textbook writer. He was described as the foremost expert on heroin in Britain in the 1950s, or as a leading authority on opiates and he was called as an expert witness for the prosecution in the trial of Dr John Bodkin Adams for the murder of Mrs Edith Morrell. Career Douthwaite was a senior physician at Guy's Hospital, and an Honorary Physician at All Saints' Hospital for Genito-urinary Diseases. Douthwaite was Britain's foremost expert on dangerous drugs, and was instrumental in dissuading the Home Office from banning heroin for medical use. Dr Douthwaite was greatly respected for his diagnostic skills. One story told of how he had walked into the casualty department in his usual morning dress and greeted the casualty officer, "I am Arthur Henry Douthwaite and I have just perforated my duodenal ulcer, please arrange my admission." According to the story, he had. Bodkin Adams trial In 1957 Douthwaite gave evidence as an expert witness at the trial of Dr John Bodkin Adams for murder. The basis for this trial was