Diabetes journal editors publish preprint alleging ADA orchestrated scientist ouster

Deputy editors of the journal *Diabetes Care*, a publication of the American Diabetes Association (ADA), have published an editorial and seven accompanying opinion pieces on a preprint server after the association refused to release them. The documents, posted to Zenodo, contain serious allegations that ADA leadership was aware in advance that members would be distributing copies of the editorial and deliberately arranged for security and local police to intervene.

The controversy centres on events at the ADA’s annual meeting in New Orleans on June 5, 2026, where five leading scientists, known as the "New Orleans Five," were removed for handing out the editorial. The piece, originally published in April, criticises the Trump administration’s attacks on scientific research and the dismantling of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The scientists allege the removal was a coordinated ambush, with ADA leadership working alongside venue security to confiscate their badges and escort them from the venue.

Steven Kahn, editor-in-chief of *Diabetes Care* and a professor at the University of Washington, was among those ousted. He had been scheduled to chair a symposium but was replaced by John Buse of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. In his own contribution to the preprint, Buse described the ADA’s actions as a "premeditated attack" that poses an existential threat to the organisation. He noted that during the removal, a police officer asked security if the action was "sufficient," after which staff directed the removal of a sixth individual, Maureen Gannon, to meet a perceived quota.

The backlash has triggered significant internal turmoil, including the resignation of Mark Atkinson, chair of the Scientific Sessions Meeting Planning Committee. Atkinson stated he resigned because he was not given the opportunity to review a letter bearing his name and the CEO’s signature, which he described as a defence of the ADA’s actions rather than an apology. He argued that the association failed to address the wrong committed in New Orleans and that no corrective actions or resignations of involved staff have occurred.

In their preprint, deputy editors Elizabeth Selvin and Cheryl A.M. Anderson highlighted that the conflict dates back to a 2025 session on healthcare reform, which ADA leadership had previously objected to as "unbalanced." They noted that following the June incident, the ADA cancelled scheduled annual in-person meetings with the editorial board, cutting off their primary opportunity to connect with the team. The scientists are calling for an independent review, a formal apology, and governance reforms to protect editorial freedom and ensure the association stands behind its journal editors.