July 23, 2026
Blood, sugar, and security
Police Removed Prominent Scientists from the ADA Meeting. Researchers Respond
Scientists handed out a published article — then got marched out as commenters cried hypocrisy
TLDR: Several scientists were kicked out of a major diabetes conference after handing out a published editorial criticizing government policy. Commenters zeroed in on the hypocrisy, with many saying you can’t claim neutrality while removing people for sharing an opposing view.
The real fireworks from the American Diabetes Association meeting weren’t about blood sugar breakthroughs — they were about scientists being escorted out by police for handing out copies of an editorial already published in the group’s own journal. The researchers say they were peacefully sharing a printed dissenting view about government actions hurting science and patient care. The ADA says they broke the event’s code of conduct and crossed a line in what it calls a nonpartisan space. And online? People instantly smelled a contradiction.
The loudest reaction was basically: wait, so one side gets a microphone and the other gets removed? One commenter mocked the logic, saying it’s amazing to call the scientists “partisan” while treating the opening message as magically neutral. That hypocrisy angle absolutely dominated the mood. Another commenter was stunned nobody staged a solidarity exit, while a more cynical voice shrugged that vague code-of-conduct enforcement is just the usual script: nobody explains the rule, everyone gets punished anyway.
Then the thread took a sharp turn into full-on rage about the wider diabetes system. One Type 1 diabetic blasted the whole industry as “a racket,” arguing patients are forced through endless gatekeeping for medicine they literally need to stay alive. That gave the story an extra charge: this wasn’t just conference drama, but a symbol of how institutions silence dissent while patients and researchers alike feel trapped.
The jokes were dark, the trust was low, and the comment section verdict was brutal: bad optics, worse messaging, and a censorship story that only got louder because security got involved.
Key Points
- •Five researchers were escorted out of the American Diabetes Association’s 2026 conference after distributing copies of a *Diabetes Care* editorial.
- •Justin Ryder and Steven Kahn were among the removed researchers, and Kahn was also an author of the editorial and editor-in-chief of *Diabetes Care*.
- •The editorial argued that recent federal administration actions would negatively affect research, diabetes care, and public health outcomes.
- •The ADA said the attendees violated the meeting’s code of conduct and said its nonprofit status requires maintaining a nonpartisan environment.
- •Ryder disputed the ADA’s account, saying the group was not clearly told what rule they had violated and that security and police used forceful tactics before barring them from the conference.