American Diabetes Association faces calls for resignation

The expulsion of five diabetes experts from last month’s American Diabetes Association meeting continues to resonate, with more than 200 members now calling for the resignation of two ADA leaders. In response, the ADA released its own message on Tuesday, thanking its members for their patience while the report was written.

The resignation request, sent in an open letter to the ADA board last week, calls for the removal of CEO Charles Henderson and chief scientific and medical officer Rita Kalyani. It also calls for an “independent investigation into the events of the 2026 New Orleans Scientific Sessions, a full apology to the five colleagues who were removed from the meeting, and restoration of editorial independence to Diabetes Care,” the ADA’s scientific journal.

“More than 45 days have passed since the incident at the 2026 Academic Meeting, and the ADA Board of Directors still has not taken any meaningful action to hold its leaders accountable, issue a genuine apology, or restore trust with its members,” the open letter states. “ADA was founded by physicians and scientists who understood that the strength of this organization comes not from the administrators who happen to run it, but from the communities it serves. That community is now telling the board in the clearest terms that its current path is unsustainable. We demand change now.”

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