Diabetes org apologizes for firing scientists for criticizing Trump

Among the most serious problems, the head of the American Diabetes Association wrote video Wednesday apologized for the organization’s decision on Friday to forcefully withdraw five leading sugar scientists from the organization’s annual meeting.

The scientists were fired for submitting an April document — published in the ADA’s journal Diabetes Care — that sharply criticized the Trump administration for the damage and destruction it is causing to medical research. The five scientists were Steven Kahn, a professor of medicine at the University of Washington, who is the editor-in-chief of Diabetes Care and a co-editor. It also included former ADA President Desmond Schatz of the University of Florida.

Scientists were handing out placards outside the conference’s opening remarks, which were to be delivered by Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health under Trump. Bhattacharya withdrew at the last minute, and NIH director Rick Woychik replaced him.

A few minutes after he started giving his speech, the police reportedly escorted the scientists out of the conference, which was held in New Orleans. The police allegedly pushed one scientist, took all their conference badges, and threatened to arrest them if they tried to return. Louisiana State Police later he told reporters that he acted in accordance with the request of the ADA. The ADA later banned the five scientists from the entire conference.

In a video Wednesday, ADA CEO Charles Henderson himself apologized to five scientists, including Aaron Kelly, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Minnesota; Justin Ryder of Northwestern University; and Irl Hirsch, also of the University of Washington, in addition to Kahn and Schatz.

“What happened doesn’t reflect who I am, what I live by, or how I grew up,” Henderson said. “I will work hard to bring our community back together to improve what we have done together for those living with diabetes.”

Although the removal immediately shocked and angered members of the diabetes research community, Henderson’s video is a stark contrast to the ADA’s statements over the past few days that have tried to justify the decision. First, the ADA media team he told MedPage Today that “attendees were escorted from the venue by our security because they displayed unethical behavior” during the meeting.