▼ Summary
– The head of the American Diabetes Association apologized after five leading scientists were forcefully removed from the annual meeting for distributing an editorial critical of the Trump administration’s impact on biomedical research.
– The five scientists included Steven Kahn, editor-in-chief of Diabetes Care and co-author of the editorial, and former ADA President Desmond Schatz.
– The scientists were handing out the editorial outside a speech by NIH head Jay Bhattacharya, who canceled; police escorted them out, shoved one, took badges, and threatened arrest at the ADA’s request.
– The scientists were barred from the rest of the conference, and Louisiana State Police said they acted at the ADA’s request.
– The apology contrasts with earlier ADA statements justifying the removal as a violation of the conference code of conduct.
Amid a firestorm of criticism, the American Diabetes Association’s top executive issued a video apology on Wednesday for the organization’s controversial decision to forcibly remove five prominent diabetes researchers from its annual meeting over the weekend.
The scientists were ejected from the conference in New Orleans on Friday for distributing copies of an April editorial from the ADA’s own journal, Diabetes Care, which harshly criticizes the Trump administration’s impact on biomedical research. Among those removed were Dr. Steven Kahn, a University of Washington professor of medicine and editor-in-chief of Diabetes Care, who also co-authored the piece, and former ADA President Dr. Desmond Schatz of the University of Florida.
The group was handing out the editorial outside the conference’s opening speech. That address had originally been scheduled for Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the Trump-appointed head of the National Institutes of Health, but he canceled at the last minute. Senior NIH official Rick Woychik spoke instead.
Within minutes of the scientists starting to distribute the editorial, police escorted them out of the venue. Reports indicate that at least one scientist was shoved, all five had their conference badges confiscated, and they were threatened with arrest if they attempted to re-enter. Louisiana State Police later stated they acted at the ADA’s request. The association subsequently banned the five from the remainder of the event.
In Wednesday’s video, ADA CEO Charles Henderson personally apologized to the five scientists: Drs. Kahn, Schatz, Aaron Kelly (pediatrics professor at the University of Minnesota), Justin Ryder (Northwestern University), and Irl Hirsch (also of the University of Washington). “What transpired is not reflective of who I am, the values I hold, or the way I was raised,” Henderson said. “I will work hard to bring our community back together to build on the progress we have collectively made for those affected by diabetes.”
The ousting immediately stunned and outraged the diabetes research community. Henderson’s apology stands in sharp contrast to the ADA’s earlier statements, which tried to justify the decision. Initially, an ADA media team told MedPage Today that “these attendees were escorted out by our onsite event security because they demonstrated behavior not consistent with this code of conduct” for the conference.
(Source: Ars Technica)