Doctors Behaving Badly: Doctor throws acid at his lover’s husband

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December 30, 2009

Dr. F.D. Toms, a New Jersey doctor, found himself in a bind.

Rumors had been running around town that he had been sleeping with another man's wife. The spurned husband, William Smith, showed up at the doctor's office demanding to see him.

Toms panicked. Seeing Smith charging at him, Toms grabbed a container of sulphuric acid and threw it in Smith's face. Toms said later that he thought he had grabbed a bottle of ammonia.

Justice was swift. A month after being arrested, Toms was convicted of assault.

This was in 1899, proving that doctors have been behaving badly for a really long time.

Antidote looks forward to another year exposing the misdeeds, proclivities and self-immolations of medical professionals everywhere.