Andrew Almon Fletcher Explained

Andrew Almon Fletcher (8 March 1889, Kingston, Ontario – 30 November 1964, Toronto) was a Canadian physician and pioneering diabetologist, known as one of the five co-authors of the famous 1922 paper Pancreatic Extracts in the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus.^[1]

Biography

A. Almon Fletcher graduated in 1913 from the University of Toronto with an M.B. (qualifying him for the practice of medicine). From 1915 to 1918 he served overseas in the Canadian Army Medical Corps. After WW I, he became a staff member of the department of medicine of the University of Toronto and of the medical service of Toronto General Hospital. He qualified F.R.C.P.C. in 1930. He was an assistant professor in the department of medicine of the University of Toronto and a senior physician at Toronto General Hospital from 1922 to 1951 when he retired from Toronto General Hospital. In 1951 he was put in charge of the clinical investigation unit at Toronto's Sunnybrook Military Hospital,^[2] which in 1973 became Sunnybrook Medical Centre.

At Toronto General Hospital, in the diabetes ward under the direction of Duncan Archibald Graham, the physicians A. Almon Fletcher and Walter R. Campbell^[3] were responsible for the treatment of Leonard Thompson, a teenaged charity case with a severe case of type 1 diabetes, who had been transferred on 2 December 1921 from Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children.^[4] Dr. Campbell persuaded Leonard Thompson's father to consent to the experimental test on his son of the pancreatic extract supplied by Banting, Best, and Macleod. The historic injection of insulin took place on 11 January 1922.^[3]

According to Dr. Fletcher in 1962:

In 1953 Fletcher and Campbell were both awarded Banting Medals by the American Diabetes Association.^[5]

On 21 September 1921 in Toronto, A. Almon Fletcher married Helen Waterston Mowat (1895–1945). They had four daughters.

His burial took place at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto. He was a great-grandson of Sir Oliver Mowat.

Selected publications

Articles

• Brown, Alan. Fletcher, Almon. The etiology of tetany—metabolic and clinical studies. American Journal of Diseases of Children. 10. 5. 1915. 313–330. 10.1001/archpedi.1915.04110050002001.
• 20314060. March 1922. Banting. F. G.. Best. C. H.. Collip. J. B.. James Collip. Campbell. W. R.. Fletcher. A. A.. Pancreatic Extracts in the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 12. 3. 141–146. 1524425. 1922 (over 1250 citations)
• 10.1001/archinte.1922.00110070109009. Dietetic Treatment of Chronic Arthritis and its Relationship to the Sugar Tolerance. 1922. Fletcher. A. Almon. Archives of Internal Medicine. 30. 106.
• Book: Banting, F.G.. Best, C.H.. Collip, J.B.. Campbell, W.R.. Fletcher, A.A.. Macleod, J.J.R.. Noble, E.C.. 1923. The effect produced on diabetes by extracts of pancreas. University of Toronto Library: Published by the Librarian. (This paper was delivered on 3 May 1922 by Macleod at the Washington, D.C., meeting of the Association of American Physicians. See Web site: The Discovery of Insulin. The Canadian Encyclopedia.)
• 20770964. 1923. Banting. F. G.. Campbell. W. R.. Fletcher. A. A.. Further Clinical Experience with Insulin (Pancreatic Extracts) in the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus. British Medical Journal. 1. 3236. 8–12. 10.1136/bmj.1.3236.8. 2316395.
• 20317726. 1930. Fletcher. A. A.. Chronic Arthritis. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 22. 3. 320–323. 381746.
• 10.1016/S0002-8223(21)35872-2. Diet and Nutrition in Chronic Arthritis. 1931. Fletcher. A.A.. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 7. 2–6. 244766397.
• 10.1177/000841743300100105. Value of Occupational Therapy in Chronic Arthritis. 1933. Fletcher. A. A.. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy. 1. 20–23. 76194572.
• Hench, P. S.. Philip Showalter Hench. Bauer, W.. Fletcher, A. A.. Ghrist, D.. Hall, F.. White, P.. 10.7326/0003-4819-8-10-1315. The Present Status of the Problem of "Rheumatism"; A Review of Recent American and English Literature on "Rheumatism" and Arthritis. Annals of Internal Medicine. 1935. 8. 10. 1315.
• 20320225. 1936. Kerr. R. B.. Best. C. H.. Campbell. W. R.. Fletcher. A. A.. Protamine Insulin. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 34. 4. 400–401. 1561605.
• 20322941. 1943. Graham. J. W.. Fletcher. A. A.. Gold Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 49. 6. 483–487. 1828020.
• 10.1016/0002-9343(56)90137-1. Essential cryoglobulinaemia. 1956. Volpé. Robert. Bruce-Robertson. Alan. Fletcher. A.Almon. Charles. W.Bruce. The American Journal of Medicine. 20. 4. 533–553. 13302232. 1956
• 10.2337/diab.5.1.69. Pancreatic Extracts in the Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus. 1956. Banting. F. G.. Best. C. H.. Collip. J. B.. Campbell. W. R.. Fletcher. A. A.. Diabetes. 5. 69–71. 22547673. (reprint of March 1922 article)

Notes and References

1. Book: The Discovery of Insulin. 123. 9780226075631. Bliss. Michael. 15 February 2013.
2. Presentation of Banting Medals to Doctors Campbell and Fletcher, Remarks of Prof. Charles H. Best. Diabetes. 2. 4. July–August 1953. 338–339.
3. Walter Campbell: more than a footnote. Goodwin, James. Kopplin, Peter. Hektoen International: A Journal of Medical Humanities. Spring 2015. 7. 2.
4. Book: The Discovery of Insulin. 112. 9780226075631. Bliss. Michael. 15 February 2013.
5. Web site: Banting Medal for Scientific Achievement. American Diabetes Association.