Scientists Removed from Diabetes Conference Over Journal Reprints
▼ Summary
– Five scientists were removed from the American Diabetes Association meeting in New Orleans for distributing reprints of an editorial criticizing the Trump administration’s attacks on scientific research.
– The scientists included Steven Kahn, Desmond Schatz, Aaron Kelly, Justin Ryder, and Irl Hirsch.
– They were handing out the reprints outside a room where NIH director Jay Bhattacharya was scheduled to speak, but he cancelled and another official spoke instead.
– Aaron Kelly reported that security physically grabbed them, forced them out, took their lanyards, and banned them from the rest of the meeting.
– Kelly stated the incident demonstrates that censorship is real in America and urged scientists and physicians to stand up.
Five prominent diabetes researchers were forcibly removed from the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) annual meeting in New Orleans on Friday, after they distributed printed copies of a recently published journal editorial that criticizes the Trump administration’s approach to science.
The scientists ejected from the conference include Dr. Steven Kahn, a University of Washington professor and editor-in-chief of Diabetes Care; former ADA president Desmond Schatz from the University of Florida, Gainesville; Aaron Kelly, a pediatrics professor at the University of Minnesota; Justin Ryder of Northwestern University; and Irl Hirsch, also from the University of Washington. The group was handing out reprints of an editorial published in Diabetes Care on April 29, which strongly condemns the administration’s ongoing efforts to undermine scientific research.
The incident occurred outside a room where National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya was scheduled to speak. Bhattacharya canceled his appearance, and another NIH official took his place.
“They physically grabbed us, forced us out of the conference center, and now are telling us we can no longer attend this meeting,” Kelly told MedPage Today, which first reported the story. “They’re taking our lanyards. It really has come to this in America. Censorship is real. America needs to stand up. Scientists, stand up. Physicians, stand up.”
The editorial, titled “Misguided Brushes of a Pen Continue to Dismantle,” was published on April 29 and sharply criticizes the administration’s policies affecting federal research funding and public health data. The ADA’s decision to remove the scientists has sparked outrage among many in the medical and research communities, who see it as an alarming escalation in the suppression of scientific dissent.
(Source: Ars Technica)