Doctors asked not to tweet confidential information worth $8B at conference tweet it anyway - CNET

As Bloomberg reports, the ADA was enjoying a conference on Monday in New Orleans. The attendees, many of them doctors, were there to listen to data about a new diabetes drug called Victoza.

It's manufactured by Danish company Novo Nordisk.

Rumors suggested Victoza might be a remarkable breakthrough. But such was the timing of this conference that the presentation of the data was occurring an hour or so ahead of its official unveiling to the public and those venal entities known as the markets.

The presenters therefore asked very nicely for the attendees not to tweet about the information.

You know what happened, don't you? You live a peculiar life too.

As the presenters revealed the data to the hall, the data was being tweeted. And retweeted. And retweeted.

The American Diabetes Association tweeted at the tweeters to please stop.

Bloomberg quotes one tweeter, @LoenborgMadsen, as declaring: "Wow -- that was fast. Just got slammed for posting embargoed data from the session. Better stop :-(." That tweet has now been deleted.

Neither Novo Nordisk nor the American Diabetes Association immediately responded to requests for comment.

Sadly, the fact that Victoza allegedly reduces heart attacks and strokes by 13 percent and helps survival rates rise was thought to be a disappointment. This meant that Novo Nordisk's share price dropped on Tuesday.

I worry, though, about the psychology of the whole thing.

Multiply asking one person to keep a secret by several hundred or more. What do you get? A colander with just a frame and one big hole.