Would You Rather Have an Erection, or Your Vision ?

By LAURAN NEERGAARD, Associated Press AP writers Theresa Agovino in New York and Elizabeth Wolfe in Washington contributed to this story.


WASHINGTON (May 27) - Federal health officials are probing reports of blindness among dozens of men who used Viagra and other impotence drugs - but at the same time cautioning that the vision loss can be linked to the same illnesses that lead to impotence.

At issue is sudden vision loss when blood flow to the optic nerve is blocked, a condition called NAION or non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.

The FDA has 43 reports of NAION among the impotence drug users: 38 for Viagra, four for Cialis and one for Levitra, said spokeswoman Susan Cruzan.

Those are rare numbers, given that Viagra alone has been used by 23 million men worldwide since its approval in 1998, according to maker Pfizer Inc.

Also complicating the question: NAION is considered one of the most common causes of sudden vision loss in older Americans, and estimates suggest there are anywhere from 1,000 to 6,000 cases a year. Risk factors include diabetes and heart disease, two of the leading causes of impotence.

The possibility of a link with blindness was raised publicly earlier this year, when Dr. Howard Pomeranz of the University of Minnesota reported in an ophthalmology journal seven patients who reported NAION vision loss occurring within 36 hours of a Viagra dose.

''A definite causal relationship cannot be established at this time,'' Pomeranz wrote.

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No doubt a lot of impotent men are saying "So what ?"

We'll have to pry their ED pills from their cold, dead fingers.