The article focuses on various papers discussed at the 81st annual meeting of the American Association for the History of Medicine (AAHM) at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Rochester, New York from April 10 to 13, 2008. The topic discussed included drug addiction, the history of neuroscience and the influenza epidemic from 1918 to 1919 in Nigeria. The authors of the papers included Kenneth E. Collins, Gary Steiner and Nathan W. Moon.