Five scientists were physically removed from the American Diabetes Association's annual meeting in New Orleans on June 6 for distributing reprints of a peer-reviewed editorial. The editorial, published in Diabetes Care on April 29, criticizes the Trump administration's attacks on scientific research. The five removed were Steven Kahn, editor-in-chief of Diabetes Care and co-author of the editorial; former ADA president Desmond Schatz; Aaron Kelly of the University of Minnesota; Justin Ryder of Northwestern University; and Irl Hirsch, also of the University of Washington.
The distribution was happening outside a room where NIH director Jay Bhattacharya was scheduled to speak. Bhattacharya cancelled. A replacement NIH official spoke instead. Conference staff took the scientists' lanyards and barred them from the rest of the meeting. Kelly confirmed the physical removal to MedPage Today, which broke the story.
The editorial itself, titled 'Misguided Brushes of a Pen Continue to Dismantle' and still live in Diabetes Care, is the document that triggered the ejections. Read it alongside the MedPage Today account to understand exactly what language the ADA found worth censoring at its own conference.
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