ADA Faces Leadership Crisis After Police Eject Researchers Protesting NIH Cuts at Annual Meeting

Police and private security officers forcibly removed five diabetes (search)Search disease researchers from the American Diabetes Association (search)Search term's annual Scientific Sessions in New Orleans on Friday, after the researchers distributed copies of an editorial criticizing federal cuts to biomedical research. The incident has triggered a leadership crisis within the ADA, prompted the resignations of two senior officials, and drawn condemnation from 45 former ADA presidents and board chairs.

The researchers, including Steve Kahn, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington and editor-in-chief of Diabetes (search)Search disease Care, were handing out copies of an editorial they co-authored in the ADA's own journal. The editorial criticized the Trump administration for what it described as "decimating America's biomedical research enterprise."

Video taken by MedPage Today showed police confronting the researchers, attempting to seize the editorials, and physically shoving Aaron Kelly, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School. "They physically grabbed us, forced us out of the conference center and now are telling us we can no longer attend this meeting," Kelly said. "They're taking our lanyards. It really has come to this in America. Censorship is real."

Kahn, who was scheduled to present at the conference, was barred from doing so. He told MedPage Today that after being ejected, the group was warned that "if we come in again we will be arrested."

The incident unfolded against the backdrop of NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya's scheduled keynote address. Bhattacharya canceled at the last minute, citing a meeting with President Trump; senior adviser Richard Woychik spoke in his place to an audience that reportedly applauded when criticisms of NIH funding cuts were raised.

ADA's Response Deepens the Controversy

The ADA issued a series of statements defending its actions. In a statement to The Washington Post, the organization said the five individuals were removed "for violating the conference code of conduct, which they agreed to during the registration process. Our conference code of conduct expects that all participants will conduct themselves in a professional and respectful manner."

A subsequent statement on Sunday cited IRS rules governing 501(c)(3) organizations, asserting that "the ADA has safeguards in place to ensure that it complies with all IRS regulations. This includes maintaining a strictly nonpartisan environment at all organizational events and functions."

However, the IRS prohibits 501(c)(3) nonprofits from political activity in official publications or functions, but does not bar leaders from expressing personal political views. The editorial in question explicitly stated that it represented the personal views of the authors and not those of the ADA.

Widespread Condemnation from Diabetes (search)Search disease Leaders

John Buse, a former ADA president, co-author of the editorial, and editor of Diabetes (search)Search disease Care, described the organization's response as shocking. "To me, it was inconceivable," Buse told STAT. "Now, it wasn't inconceivable that somebody from the ADA might have approached and said, 'This is not cool, please don't do this,' but it was shocking to me that they deployed the police."

Buse also criticized the ADA's subsequent justifications: "Doubling down on that and saying this was a good decision because they weren't following the code of conduct because they were distributing materials without authorization, sounds like bullshit."

Jeffrey Flier, former dean of Harvard Medical School and an ADA member attending the scientific sessions for 50 years, called the situation one that went from "bad to worse." He told STAT, "You would think 99.9% of all professional diabetes (search)Search disease people, whether they be clinicians, researchers, or anything else, would view that as a horrifying mistake. And then the ADA leadership had the opportunity to correct it, to apologize, to say that that's not what was intended, we're sorry, but they just did not do that."

Jay Skyler, an endocrinologist at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, read to STAT from an email he sent to ADA President Charles Henderson and Scientific Sessions Planning Committee Chair Mark Atkinson: "You should be embarrassed by your disgusting email defending the actions of security. The police and security would have no way of knowing the alleged long-standing policy against distribution of materials unless the ADA told them to act. This is my 55th ADA meeting and I've never heard of such a policy. You both should resign."

Leadership Resignations and Institutional Fallout

The following day, Mark Atkinson resigned as Scientific Sessions Planning Committee Chair. President-Elect Jennifer Green, a professor of medicine at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, also stepped down. Skyler described these departures as a serious loss for the ADA.

Forty-five former ADA presidents and board chairs sent a letter to the current board expressing their shock and disapproval. "To the contrary, the Association should have applauded the effort to advocate for appropriate and greater scientific and medical research funding," the letter stated. "This unforced error threatens the future of Scientific Sessions, the ADA's journals and the organization itself."

A change.org open letter launched by prominent diabetes (search)Search disease physician-scientist David Nathan has garnered 5,900 signatures.

Unintended Amplification

If the ADA had hoped to suppress the editorial's message, the effort backfired dramatically. Buse noted that prior to the incident, the editorial had approximately 300 page views. "It's gone from being completely unknown to, as of last night, the 50th-most cited, most-viewed paper in the entire world among 300,000 papers published in the last month," he said.

Flier summarized the path forward: "My bottom line, my personal view is that there either has to be an abject apology officially made by the leadership of the ADA for mistakes that were not intended but got out of control. Or they need to remove the current leadership and replace it."

Buse reflected on the broader context, stating, "I think everybody in the United States is worried about reprisals of the Trump administration. It's about standing up for what's right."