Stanford University Medical Center (Palo Alto, CA) has a new policy banning all gifts, even the most minor ones, to its doctors from drug and device industry representatives, reports the New York Times. It is the latest academic medical center to toughen up conflict-of-interest policies in the wake of outcries over corporate influence in medicine. The change likely to get the most attention is the banning of free drug samples, but some changes apply to the device industry too. With some exceptions, industry representatives are barred from areas where patient care and doctor education occur. Doctors who buy medical devices must report any relationship with manufacturers, and may be barred from the decision-making process. And they may not publish articles in medical journals that are ghostwritten by industry. Fortunately, consulting arrangements are not affected, indicating that Stanford understands that doctors are necessarily part of the medical device development process.