Henry Matthew: The father of modern clinical toxicology

Henry Matthew was appointed a consultant in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh in 1955, by which time he was a highly regarded general physician with an interest in cardiology. In 1964 he agreed, almost certainly reluctantly, to head the recently designated Regional Poisoning Treatment Centre, which he did until his retirement ten years later. Matthew quickly established himself as an authority in clinical toxicology, mainly from an unrivalled experience of treating poisoned patients, day-in and day-out, but also by publishing original research, letters and books. Such were his contributions that he is regarded as the father of clinical toxicology.

Keywords Clinical toxicology, Henry Matthew, Regional Poisoning Treatment Centre, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Scottish Poisons Information Bureau

Declaration of Interests No conflict of interests declared.