Members of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) have launched a boycott against the organization, condemning leadership’s actions in the aftermath of five researchers being removed by police from its annual meeting in June.
Addressed to the board of directors, the notice of boycott — effective immediately — said that in the months after the researchers were removed and banned from the meeting for distributing an editorial on federal research funding cuts, the ADA “offered shifting justifications, no apology, and despite the CEO’s … promise, no truly independent review” of the events.
The editors of ADA’s flagship journal, Diabetes Care, have joined on in support of the boycott.
“Manuscripts submitted will not be handled until the boycott is over,” said Steven Kahn, MBChB, the journal’s editor in chief and one of the five researchers ejected from the meeting in New Orleans, in a LinkedIn post on Thursday.
Kahn told MedPage Today that “the journal boycott is like establishing a picket line. People who cross the line don’t come out as friends of their friends.”
The editors had posted a notice on the suspension of manuscript reviews on their submission page, but the ADA removed it, said Kahn. “We put [the notice] up there because it would make it clear to potential authors that their papers are not going to be processed by the four editors who lead the team,” he said. “Now people could be submitting papers without knowing they won’t be processed because there is no notice up there.”
As of Friday, the boycott has gathered over 400 signatures, including from past ADA presidents, award winners, Scientific Sessions committee members, journal editors, and individuals affected by diabetes, who noted that the “actions and statements of ADA leadership and the board no longer represent our views or opinions.”
Signees have pledged to suspend all ADA-related activities, including:
- Planning or attending any meetings led by ADA leadership or the board, including the 2027 ADA Scientific Sessions
- Participating in board-led activities regarding the investigation of the meeting’s events, or the report generated by the “so-called ‘independent’ committee”
- Engaging in all other ADA operations, including presentations, fundraisers, grant reviews, manuscript reviews, journal management, manuscript submissions, and position statements
After the June meeting, tensions escalated further in July when leadership blocked the publication of six opinion pieces and one editorial that addressed the meeting’s events, all of which had previously been accepted to Diabetes Care.
Earlier this month, the ADA initially claimed its internal investigation concluded that the five researchers, known as the New Orleans five, were removed for code-of-conduct violations, and not due to the editorial’s content.
However, in a swift about-face following backlash, the ADA acknowledged that the investigation remains ongoing and noted that the audit and governance committee’s “initial findings did not take into account the full breadth and depth of [its] investigation.” A final report is expected in the coming weeks.
“The ADA has muzzled its members and has not provided truthful answers,” Kahn wrote in his LinkedIn post this week. “The ADA’s executive and lay leadership needs to be told that reform is required if we are all going to fight for a better world for people with diabetes.”
Boycott signees reject both the internal investigation’s initial findings and leadership’s subsequent actions.
“Each of us remains fully committed to the ADA’s stated mission and we are equally committed to bringing the work of the organization to a halt until the Board acknowledges the consequences of its actions and makes the meaningful, structural change we have already requested,” they wrote.
The boycott will remain active until the ADA board of directors permits an independent formal review of the organization’s structure and function to ensure it “properly represent[s] its professional membership.” If demands are not met, signees plan to align with existing or newly formed medical societies.
Prior to the formal boycott, over 8,000 supporters signed a Change.org petition condemning ADA leadership. More than 500 current and former members had also signed a letter demanding the resignation of CEO Charles Henderson, an independent investigation, a public apology to the five banned scientists, and restored editorial independence for Diabetes Care.
