A national doctors’ organisation says that most of the authors of a federally sponsored report on recommended health insurance coverage have financial ties to insurers and drug companies and that the insurance scheme will leave many US citizens without access to healthcare.

The Institute of Medicine, which was contracted by the federal government to write the report, brought in security guards at the institute’s annual meeting to prevent doctors from distributing leaflets outlining the financial conflicts of interest of the report’s authors. The doctors, former institute fellows and members of Physicians for a National Healthcare Plan, were registered at the meeting and tried to give the leaflets to colleagues attending it.

Danny McCormick, assistant professor …