Nearly 140 doctor and health related organisations are protesting against proposed legislation to block health reform and close down the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a federal agency founded by Congress to “improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans.”

On 15 July, the House Appropriations subcommittee on labour, health and human services, and education approved a bill to terminate the agency from 1 October.1

The agency funds analyses of scientific and clinical trial data that are used by the independent United States Preventive Services Task Force to devise healthcare guidelines regarding clinical preventive services such as screening, counselling services, and preventive medicines. One of its projects is …