Five leading scientists were excluded from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) annual meeting in New Orleans on Friday. Their crime: handing out copies of an editorial published in the journal Diabetes Care on April 29 that sharply criticized the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on scientific research.
Among those excluded were Steven Kahn, professor of medicine at the University of Washington and editor-in-chief of Diabetes Care, who co-authored the published editorial; former ADA President Desmond Schatz of the University of Florida, Gainesville; Aaron Kelly, pediatrician at the University of Minnesota; Justin Ryder of Northwestern University; And also Iral Hirsch of the University of Washington. The five men were handing out reprints of the editorial outside the room where NIH Director Jai Bhattacharya was scheduled to speak. Bhattacharya canceled and another NIH official spoke in his place.
“They physically grabbed us, escorted us out of the conference center and are now telling us we can’t attend this meeting,” Kelly told MedPage Today. “They’re taking our strings. It’s really gotten to this point in America. Censorship is real. America needs to stand up. Scientists, stand up. Doctors, stand up.”
The ADA confirmed to MedPage Today that five registered scientists were removed from the meeting, claiming that the scientists had violated the organization’s code of conduct for conferences. “These attendees were escorted out by our onsite event security because they did not behave consistent with this code of conduct,” the ADA media team said in a statement. “He was respectfully given the opportunity to stop this behavior and he chose not to do so, which is why he was fired.”
The code of conduct states, “All attendees will conduct themselves in a professional and respectful manner, free from any form of discrimination, harassment or intimidation.” “Inappropriate conduct, including, but not limited to, harassment; threatening or unwanted physical or verbal actions; or disorderly or disruptive conduct, such as protesting, will not be tolerated.”
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