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Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), naturalist and explorer of South America and the Malay Archipelago, secured his place in history by independently discovering the theory of natural selection. His letter outlining the theory was sent from Ternate in eastern Indonesia and received at Down House, according to Charles Darwin (1809-82), on June 18, 1858, prompting the now-famed evolutionist to rush his languishing manuscript to press. Wallace's contributions to evolutionary biology, biogeography, and anthropology are well known, but his medical views have received far less attention. Within the context of a strident populist antivaccination movement and an ominous elitist eugenics campaign, Wallace took his stand, which revealed itself in a libertarianism that defended traditional socialist constituencies (the working poor, the lumpenproletariat, and feminist reformers) against state-mandated medical interventions. Rather than viewing Wallace as a heterodox contrarian, this article argues that his positions were logical outgrowths of his medical libertarianism and evolutionary and social theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the DVD release of the documentary motion picture "The Great Fever," directed by Adriana Bosch and Michael Chin.

The article discusses the practice of medicine in the most devastating conflict in American history, the civil war. It describes how important military medicine was in those times when diseases attacked and wounded soldiers were perennially increasing. It suggests to history teachers that they may use the history of medicine and its practice during the civil war as a tool to broaden the history student's horizons. It recommends two books on the core background of north and south forces in the civil war.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Review of Civil War pharmacy: a history of drugs, drug supply and provision, and therapeutics for the Union and Confederacy," by G. Hasegawa in a previous issue.

A letter to the editor is presented about a call for papers for the "Journal of the Medical Library Association" (JMLA).

A letter to the editor is presented about a white paper approved by the History of the Health Sciences Section of the Medical Library Association which advocates for the history of the health sciences libraries and librarians.

Purpose. The role of trastuzumab in adjuvant therapy for locally invasive breast cancer is discussed. Summary. Trastuzumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds to the extracellular domain of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2). Currently, trastuzumab is indicated for use in HER2-positive patients with metastatic breast cancer. Because trastuzumab specifically targets a receptor that is overexpressed in tumor cells, it is less likely to cause the cytotoxic adverse effects of traditional chemotherapy. Cardiotoxicity has been a major concern, however. Several trials were started to evaluate trastuzumab in the adjuvant setting in patients diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. The interim results of these trials have shown a promising effect of adjuvant therapy with trastuzumab in improving overall survival, disease-free survival, relapse-free survival, and distant-disease-free survival. Conclusion. The use of trastuzumab as adjuvant therapy in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer can lead to increased survival. The appropriateness of trastuzumab therapy should be considered based on HER2 status, cost, and risk of toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]