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Biotech / Medical : PFE (Pfizer) How high will it go? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Anthony Wong who wrote (6164)	10/27/1998 4:06:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9523

FAA Warns Pilots Not to Use Viagra Within 6 Hours of Flight Bloomberg News October 27, 1998, 2:23 p.m. ET FAA Warns Pilots Not to Use Viagra Within 6 Hours of Flight Washington, Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is recommending that airline pilots not take Pfizer Inc.'s impotence drug Viagra within six hours of flight duty, saying it can impair their ability to distinguish between blue and green in cockpit instrument displays. In an article published in the Federal Air Surgeons Medical Bulletin, the FAA said the impairment could be dangerous because the colors are often used in cockpit displays and for taxiway lights at airports. Flight doctors are also being asked to warn pilots of potentially dangerous consequences of taking the popular impotence drug while using certain heart medication, FAA spokeswoman Kathryn Creedy said. Further, in the article the FAA recommends that pilots use the drug ''strictly. . .to the dosage recommended by manufacturers.'' Both the drug manufacturer and the Food and Drug Administration have warned that Viagra should never be used with nitroglycerin or nitrate-containing drugs. According to the FDA, at least a dozen of the deaths associated with the impotence drug involved individuals who took Viagra along with a heart medication. Earlier this year, Pfizer warned emergency room doctors not to administer nitrates to patients who are known to have just taken Viagra. There have been no reports of accidents or in-flight incidents linked to use of Viagra by a pilot, Creedy said. Regulators review all new drugs as they come on the market to determine whether they are safe for pilots and other flight safety personnel to use, Creedy said. All airline pilots are required to go through semi-annual medical checks by designated flight doctors. During those physical examinations, they are required by federal law to declare any medications they are using. Pfizer rose 7/8 to 106 5/8 in midafternoon trading. --Jennifer Thomas in the Washington newsroom (202) 624-1851 with