FAA URGES PILOTS: NO VIAGRA IF FLYING SOON

WASHINGTON -- Add another line to a pilot's preflight checklist: No Viagra.

The Federal Aviation Administration is recommending pilots not take the
impotence drug within six hours of flying because it could make it tough to
distinguish between the blues and greens found in cockpit instrument and
runway lights.

So far the drug doesn't seem to be a problem for other transportation workers.

"For the above reasons, `Six hours from Viagra to throttle' is
recommended," wrote Dr. Donato J. Borrillo, a flight surgeon who issued the
warning in the most recent issue of the Federal Air Surgeon's Medical
Bulletin. Studies show it takes that long for Viagra to leave the
bloodstream.

The phrase mimics the abstinence rule for pilots who drink alcohol: "Eight
hours from bottle to throttle."

In clinical studies of Viagra, 3 percent of patients reported seeing a
bluish haze. Others taking higher-than-recommended doses had trouble
telling the difference between blue and green.

Both conditions are troublesome for pilots since blue and green lights are
used to outline taxiways and illuminate digital instrument panels.

Borrillo, who is commander of flight medicine at Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, issued his vision warning in a bulletin to flight surgeons. They are
the doctors who must certify that pilots are healthy enough to fly.

He noted that Viagra inhibits the action of an enzyme that contributes to
impotence. But that same enzyme, phosphodiesterase, is also present in the
eye and is critical for cells to change light into brain signals.

Borrillo warned that "full attention to the instrument scan and the task at
hand may be compromised" by Viagra.

He also wrote that because Viagra can cause "confusion" for pilots, "it is
the author's view that a minimum of six hours should pass from `as needed'
dosing and flying.

Furthermore, the continued (daily) use of sildenafil is incompatible with
safe flying." Sildenafil is the chemical name for Viagra.

While no accidents have been linked to Viagra use, the FAA decided to
recommend it not be used within six hours of flying, said agency
spokeswoman Kathryn Creedy.

Northwest Airlines instituted a policy earlier this year requiring its
pilots who take Viagra to wait 24 hours before flying, said company
spokesman Jon Austin.

Pilots, particularly those who fly commercial aircraft, are some of the
most medically restricted transportation workers.

They must have a physical at least every year and they must tell their
doctor every six months what medications they are taking. In addition, they
are limited to flying 100 hours a month.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson