Galveston County Daily News, March 25, 2007 Editorial by Heber Taylor Last fall, the medical school at Stanford University adopted a policy that prohibits physicians who work at its hospitals from accepting any gifts - no matter how small - from representatives of pharmaceutical producers. Physicians at Stanford said the policy was a response to a problem: the erosion of public trust in medicine due to the influence of drug companies. That issue was already a hot topic at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Stanford's move just made the topic a little hotter. Since then, something important has happened. UTMB was debating what its policies should be, and some wise people have taken steps to broaden this debate to include the community. That means you. On Tuesday, you're invited to a forum to discuss this topic. Why should you care? Because sooner or later, you or someone you know is going to be a patient.