Pubdate: 30 May 1999 Source: Scotland On Sunday (UK) Contact: Jackie Kemp and Amelia Hill 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. - --- MAP posted-by: Derek Rea