DON'T TAKE OFF WITH VIAGRA, PILOTS TOLD

Airline pilots have been told that they should not fly after using
Viagra.

The move has been prompted by fears of the impotence drug's side
effects, including one that means users are unable to distinguish
between the colours green and blue - often used for cockpit instrument
displays.

British pilots have been advised not to take the drug at
all.

And pilots at the American airline Northwest have been ordered not to
use the drug for 24 hours before flying.

Northwest introduced its policy last week after new research indicated
that the impotence drug could make it difficult for pilots to
differentiate between the colours.

"We want to make sure we understand fully what the ramifications are,"
said a NWA spokesman, Jon Austin. "We want to understand how it
interacts with the body's physiology before our pilots use it on a
regular basis, so 24 hours is a precautionary period to let it clear
the body."

Federal Aviation Administration regulations, which urges flight
doctors to reccomend that pilots wait only six hours to fly after
taking the drug, also prohibit plots from flying within 12 hours of
drinking alcohol.

In the UK, the Civil Aviation Authority advises pilots to avoid taking
the drug altogether until more is known about its effects.

"Viagra can have all sorts of side effects and we've told all our
pilots that they shouldn't take it at all until more research has been
done," said a spokeswoman. "All medication should be treated with a
great deal of care, especially those whose full effects are still unknown."

A spokesman for the British Airline Pilot's Association said: "It's no
big deal, pilots simply aren't advised to start their own mile-high
club.

"We advise our members not to take the drug at all. We know Viagra
causes dizziness, headaches and diarrhoea in the short term and are
cautious about what other efects might be triggered perhaps hours
after the drug has been taken," he added.

A spokesman for Pfizer, the firm which makes Viagra admitted that
Viagra could make it difficult for users to distinguish between some
colours, but insisted that this effect was rare. "In a small number of
users, about 3%, Viagra can make the colours blue and green a little
hazy," he said.

"But that effect appear to last on average about 45 minutes. There are
other drugs which can affect the vision in general use."

Regulating Viagra use is becoming more and more of a problem in the
States, where the drug is easily available and increasingly popular.

It can be bought over the internet for UKP3.70 a tablet and 11 million
prescriptions were written in the US alone last year. The drug has
sent stocks in Pfizer soaring.

Its British arm, Pfizer UK, is equally successful with the "Viagra
effect" increasing house prices dramatically in the area around its
Kent headquarters.