Dozens of Colorado doctors have continued to accept hundreds of thousands of dollars from drug companies since a national database first spotlighted the payments, but an ethics crackdown by two major academic institutions is slowing the controversial practice.

An ethics board at the University of Colorado School of Medicine has rejected more than one-third of proposed contracts between doctors and drug companies since it took authority to approve the deals on June 1, school officials said.

National Jewish Health now reviews all contracts with drug companies and audits physicians’ prescribing patterns to ensure they are not unduly emphasizing drugs from manufacturers who pay them.

The latest database from the investigative nonprofit ProPublica captures payments from about 40 percent of the drug industry, a much broader view of drug company payments than one released last year. The companies disclosing so far have spent nearly $13.4 million in Colorado since 2009.

The new database shows some company payments dropping, in part from tougher ethics policies at medical schools and other institutions.

AstraZeneca spent $9.2 million on speakers in the second half of 2010 after paying about $22.8 million in the first half, ProPublica said. The company said some of the drop was due to conference scheduling, but also said it had changed practices.

Medical ethics experts and consumer watchdogs say the speaking fees blur marketing boundaries, as doctors appear to shill for manufacturers. The fees also create conflicts when paid doctors make prescription choices.

In this July 30, 2011 file photo, One World Trade Center rises above the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty in New York. The tower will be 104 floors and 1,776 feet (541 meters) tall when completed. Ten years after terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center, the new World Trade Center is rising from ground zero. Photo by AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File

Mark Lennihan