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From: "Ossia, Felix" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: FAA Warns Pilots on Use of Viagra
Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 16:05:26 -0600
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FAA Warns Pilots on Use of Viagra

By GLEN JOHNSON Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- 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.

She said the agency would continue to monitor the drug.

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.

John Mazor, spokesman for the Air Line Pilots Association, said the
restriction is actually less severe than the one pilots face when taking
antihistamines. Federal law prohibits pilots from flying before more
than twice an antihistamine's effective time has elapsed -- eight hours
in the case of a tablet that is effective for four hours.

``Usually the FAA doesn't deal with a drug until it's been on the market
a year or more,'' Mazor said. ``It probably comes under the heading of
the FAA being a little more cautious.''

(PROFILE (CO:Northwest Airlines Corp; TS:NWAC; IG:AIR;) )

=03AP-NY-10-27-98 1655EST







Copyright =A9 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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