Overview
- At the ADA Scientific Sessions, police escorted five diabetes researchers out of the conference for handing out an April editorial from the association’s journal that criticized the Trump administration’s proposed NIH funding cuts, with officers taking badges and barring the group from re-entry.
- Video published by MedPage Today showed officers pushing at least one researcher and seizing materials, and Louisiana State Police told reporters they acted at the ADA’s request.
- The ADA initially defended the removals by citing its conference code of conduct and 501(c)(3) rules restricting partisan activity, a response that drew swift backlash from dozens of former ADA leaders and a Change.org petition with thousands of signatures.
- Two senior ADA leaders resigned after the incident and CEO Charles Henderson posted a video apology that named the five researchers and announced the association will commission an independent review of what happened.
- The episode has turned attention to how tax-exempt medical societies balance nonpartisan rules with member advocacy and could change policies on distributing materials, policing dissent at meetings, and how organizations speak about federal research funding.