Scientists ejected from diabetes conference for distributing journal reprints • Hacker News Board

Re: Scientists ejected from diabetes conference for distributing journal reprints

#121

Post by jandrewrogers » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 1:31 PM UTC

embedding-shape wrote: post #58

donkey_brains wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree with what you are saying, but I have grown too cynical to believe it will ever happen. American capitalism has been very effective at ensuring 2 outcomes: - The population is kept just comfortable enough to become complacent, with easy access to intoxicants, brainrot media and fast food. Now there are even robots that can do our thinking for us. A large percentage of people are brainwashed into thi…

What chills me the most, is the self-censorship Americans engage on social media today, everywhere online. It seems Americans today are afraid of talking clearly about general strikes, protesting, rape, sexual violence, censorship and more "taboo" topics, and I'm guessing it's because the platforms kind of shadow-ban people quickly for it. Growing up, I always heard Americans bragging about freedom of speech, and how…

Americans don't talk about "general strikes" because they don't care about general strikes and never really have. That concept doesn't have a place in American culture. I know socialists keep trying to make it salient but that is like trying to impose democracy on Afghanistan.

You have to work with what you have, not what you wish you had.

Re: Scientists ejected from diabetes conference for distributing journal reprints

#122

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 1:34 PM UTC

roenxi wrote: post #110

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> sounds to me like criticism of the government The article is not a long read [1]. It describes how current policy is dismantling and destroying the research infrastructure for diabetes, infrastructure which has started or has already borne significant fruit. It encapsulates a criticism of the administration, and it’s definitely scathing, but it’s far from a partisan rant. For example: “This CD3-directed monoclonal…

> The funding for that research is being cut. If you have a loved one with, or at risk of getting, diabetes, this could be the difference between vastly different levels of quality of life and years of life versus death. So just to jump back to the "The article they were distributing is pretty clearly about diabetes" thing mere comments ago - this seems to be about budgets and administrative matters. Those are generi…

> It can reasonably be said to be out of scope for a diabetes conference if the organisers don't want to include it

I’d agree with you if this happened at the journal level. It didn’t. The journal published it. Like, an astronomical conference paper describing why a new telescope design is a waste of money isn’t basic research, but it’s absolutely topical. (It could also reasonably be branded as political.)

The article is about the research infrastructure supporting diabetes research. If diabetes researchers aren’t allowed to comment on whether diabetes funding is working or wasteful in their own journals, or present their published journal findings at their own conferences, you’re not going to get any basic diabetes research.

> we don't need to listen to other people present on the topic of how they also want larger budgets. That is a political topic

It is. It’s also about diabetes. Debating which research avenues are more promising than others is absolutely political. It’s also at the heart of science. And frankly, informing fellow researchers and policymakers of the boring parts of the science is part of a scientist’s job.

Also, importantly, they aren’t asking for more budget in the article. They’re pointing out that the appropriated funds aren’t being delivered. They’re being literally misappropriated by OMB and HHS.

Re: Scientists ejected from diabetes conference for distributing journal reprints

#123

Post by brookst » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 1:35 PM UTC

adrian_b wrote: post #77

bluGill wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Protesting is not allowed by the rules. Though there is a good case that breaking that rule is the best action. Getting kicked out probably did more for their cause then their protest. They just need the guts to publicly stand by.

Others have already quoted TFA, which rightly points that the distributing (by some of the coauthors) of an article published in the journal of a medical association, at the conference of the said medical association, a conference which has the claimed purpose of exchanging information between the members who attend the conference, can hardly be called a "protest" or a "violation of the code of conduct". There are fe…

Yeah this is like pointing out that it’s raining, when it is raining, at a conference about rain, when the only controversial thing is that a massively corrupt administration has announced that there’s no such thing as rain.

If assertions of truth are cast as an anti-government protests, that says a lot about the government.

Re: Scientists ejected from diabetes conference for distributing journal reprints

#124

Post by JumpCrisscross » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 1:37 PM UTC

iandanforth wrote: post #118

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> do not engage with the rhetoric of the enemy. You cannot win an argument where they set the rules Strongly disagree. If they went straight up partisan at the conference, I’d be sympathetic to the notion of throwing them out. Not every space needs to be a protest venue. They didn’t do that. They distributed an article published in the organization’s own journal. They argue why what they did cannot reasonably be cons…

The point being that we're beyond where that's a responsible choice. Empathy for an organization enforcing its rules above the actions of those protesting them means either an ideological alignment with the censorship or an ignorance/disbelief of the severity of the harm the organization is causing. The former audience will never be persuaded. The latter require education and persuasion, and while its useful to creat…

> means either an ideological alignment with the censorship

Yes. I’m saying I would be ideologically aligned with censoring disruptive protest at a conference. The fact that they didn’t do that is why this is getting attention and sympathy.

> The former audience will never be persuaded

Literally me. I’m being persuaded.

> while its useful to create a sense of martyrdom

Usually only within the group. Exhibit A is all the employee protests at tech companies. Entirely useless and generally unsympathetic to anyone not already in the choir.

> "We are protesting your abandonment of scientific principles" is both what they were doing and should be doing

Sure. Not at the conference. (Like, I’m sure being ejected for traditionally protesting would rank well on BlueSky and sympathetic parts of X. But it wouldn’t be on HN. And I wouldn’t have bothered reading their article if I figure I already know what will be in it.)

Re: Scientists ejected from diabetes conference for distributing journal reprints

#125

Post by 9dev » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 1:38 PM UTC

mbmbn wrote: post #119

9dev wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where is the line between political propaganda and pointing out malconduct of the administration that is relevant to practitioners?

This is part of a paragraph of the article being distributed: “These proposed cuts would eliminate the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, which they claim “is replete with DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion] expenditures,” the Fogarty International Center, which is responsible for funding degree programs in foreign countries that benefit the health of all, including Americans, and the Na…

Also this article:

> The numerous measles outbreaks and associated avoidable deaths have resulted in part from hyping disproven theories of harm rather than publicizing the effectiveness of the measles vaccine

> Plugging the concept that diabetes is curable by “changing the food source” simply ignores the large body of work that has demonstrated that it is not merely a disease of poor nutrition and the immense challenges of reinventing the food industry

> If this policy continues, it will greatly reduce the number of funded programs or even eliminate them. Will the reduction and elimination of these major programs be in the best interest of science and improve the health of the American public in general and individuals with diabetes in particular?

They are very concretely worried because the current administration is demonstrably directing funding for research projects away from scientists (and into the Trump family pockets, which is equally well documented. They are worried because Diabetes research is threatened by budget cuts.

Re: Scientists ejected from diabetes conference for distributing journal reprints

#126

Post by like_any_other » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 1:43 PM UTC

embedding-shape wrote: post #39

> “They physically grabbed us, forced us out of the conference center, and now are telling us we can no longer attend this meeting,” Kelly told MedPage Today, which first reported the incident. “They’re taking our lanyards. It really has come to this in America. Censorship is real. America needs to stand up. Scientists, stand up. Physicians, stand up.” It's become very evident from the outside that the best time to s…

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Re: Scientists ejected from diabetes conference for distributing journal reprints

#127

Post by joemazerino » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 1:44 PM UTC

roenxi wrote: post #56

embedding-shape wrote: post #39

> “They physically grabbed us, forced us out of the conference center, and now are telling us we can no longer attend this meeting,” Kelly told MedPage Today, which first reported the incident. “They’re taking our lanyards. It really has come to this in America. Censorship is real. America needs to stand up. Scientists, stand up. Physicians, stand up.” It's become very evident from the outside that the best time to s…

This might be reading too much in to minor drama at a diabetes conference. The gentleman in question could have gone to protest outside (and probably did). The article linked doesn't even say what exactly they were protesting (beyond a rather vague "attacks on scientific research" which could mean a lot of things).

It would be wonderful if conference attendees to ADA would stick to the ToS.

Re: Scientists ejected from diabetes conference for distributing journal reprints

#128

Post by skywhopper » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 1:44 PM UTC

roenxi wrote: post #70

adrian_b wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their so-called "protest" was just distributing an article already published in the journal of the medical association to which this conference is attached, which probably discussed matters of interest for the attendance, like the future of research financing in this domain. I can hardly think of a more peaceful form of protest, which only intended to make aware the participants about the content of the article. Thos…

I'm no doctor, but I suspect the conference organisers wanted the conference to focus on diabetes. Rather than exploring whether the USA is a "free" country where anyone can say anything about the government, without consequences.

Yes, but this detail is crucial to continuing to make progress on diabetes treatment and research. So it’s actually more fundamental than anything else.

Re: Scientists ejected from diabetes conference for distributing journal reprints

#129

Post by skywhopper » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 1:45 PM UTC

ciupicri wrote: post #81

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> suspect the conference organisers wanted the conference to focus on diabetes The article they were distributing is pretty clearly about diabetes. If the actions it describes continues, significant efforts towards treating and even curing diabetes will be lost.

> Just a year ago, in these very pages, we highlighted the many threats the current U.S. administration posed to the health of our nation (1). Since then, there have been actions by the administration that have caused grave health consequences, and their current approach will continue to do so. It sounds to me like criticism of the government.

If the government is actively working against diabetes research, then there is no way to say that without “criticizing” the government.

Re: Scientists ejected from diabetes conference for distributing journal reprints

#130

Post by joemazerino » Sun, Jun 07, 2026, 1:46 PM UTC

like_any_other wrote: post #126

embedding-shape wrote: post #39

> “They physically grabbed us, forced us out of the conference center, and now are telling us we can no longer attend this meeting,” Kelly told MedPage Today, which first reported the incident. “They’re taking our lanyards. It really has come to this in America. Censorship is real. America needs to stand up. Scientists, stand up. Physicians, stand up.” It's become very evident from the outside that the best time to s…

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One man's censorship is another man's social justice and equity policy.