Dyslipidemia Conference Erupts in Riot

SEATTLE:  Dozens were injured and hundreds arrested yesterday after a fiery speech opening the 28^th Annual Dyslipidemia Conference in Belleview, Washington whipped attendees into a frenzy of protest, violence and rage.

                The keynote speaker, Dr. Steven M. Haffner, known for his hard-line views on high density lipoproteins, had been expected to deliver a short talk entitled ìEffect of sibutramine on weight maintenance after weight loss.î

                Instead, Haffner assailed his rivals--those who support LDL lowering over HDL-raising in the treatment of lipid disorders--with accusations of faulty methodology, wishful thinking and genetic inferiority.

                With the audience growing agitated, shouts of support and disapproval raining out, Haffner reached into the pocket of his lab coat, removed a 10 ml test tube containing what he described as ìpurified LDLóif there is such a thingî and attempted to crush it in his fist.

After several failed attempts, Haffner raised the tube over his head and smashed it against the podium. He was whisked away by supporters, just as hundreds rushed the stage, screaming, swinging reflex hammers and chanting either ìLDLÖ LDLî or ìHDLÖ HDLî depending on their allegiance.

Participants soon spilled into the streets where they were met with police in riot gear, brandishing shields and assault rifles.

ìIt was horrifying,î said Dr. Gary Liftkin, a diabetes specialist at Philadelphia General Hospital. ìI was trying to escape, minding my own business when I felt a charge to my left lower quadrant. I heard something drop, looked down and saw a rubber bullet, rolling in red ink from the crushed pen in my pocket.î

When rioters failed to disperse, police fired tear gas and pepper spray, exposing several thousand physicians, professors and post-doctorates to the noxious fumes.

ìWe had no choice,î Seattle police chief Bernard Terry said in defense of the action. ìThey were unruly, destroying property, endangering the lives of themselves and my officers.î

In the wake of such violence and a conference disrupted, questions remain about the future of Dyslipidemia, a field that has been wrought with internal squabbles and fierce partisanship since the 1999 decision to expand its realm from Hyperlipidemia to Dyslipidemia.

ìWhen we were hyperlipidemists,î endocrinologist David Gardner, explained, ìwe could all agree on one thingóthat too much cholesterol was bad. We knew about LDL, HDL, VLDL, even chylomicrons, and, sure, we had our personal opinions about each.  But it was never more than a sidepoint.

ìThen in 1999, we started to talk about dyslipidemia, placing more emphasis on the specific types of cholesterol. At that point, people stepped to one side or the other. It was no longer, ëHey, cholesterol is bad.í It was, ëHey, high LDL is badí or ëHey, low HDL is worse.í It was one against the other, no middle ground. Youíre either with me or against me.î 

With tensions rising in recent months after the publication of ìLDL lowering in the treatment of type 2 diabetes,î many in the field were hoping that Haffner, in his role as keynote speaker, would set aside his convictions to deliver a unifying speech and help to bridge the gap between LDLists and HDLists.

ìWe were holding our breaths,î Boston University lab technician Michael Carlson said, ìready to pounce or ready to embrace, all at once. Haffner had history in his hand, but chose to be a separatist, to preach not concordance, but hate.î

Yesterdayís incident, while ignored by the general public, has sent shock waves through the world of scientific research, prompting self-examination on the part of many societies, departments and individuals.

ìI donít see what all the fuss is about,î said Peter Borgeat, editor of the journal Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids. ìThese guys need to get over it already and get a life or something. Donít they know that PGF1aH-3 is the cornerstone of the new millennium, rendering such concepts as lipids, much less specific lipid types, irrelevant?î

Younger members of the research community have expressed similar views.

ìI just donít get how anyone could become so obsessed with something so specific as LDL or HDL,î said Mozow Yusof, an MD-PhD student whose research interest is the mineral copper, or Cu. ìI mean come on.î