Docs spy a problem with Bond's drinking

LONDON - He may have a license to kill, but is he sober enough to shoot?

British doctors who carefully read Ian Fleming's series of James Bond novels say the celebrated spy regularly drank more than four times the recommended limit of alcohol per week. Their research was published in the light-hearted Christmas edition of the medical journal BMJ on Thursday.

Patrick Davies and fellow doctors at Nottingham University Hospital analyzed 14 James Bond books and documented every drink Bond had. They also noted days when he was unable to drink, such as when he was hospitalized, in rehab, or imprisoned.

The academics found that the spy also known as 007 drank about 92 units of alcohol a week; more than four times the safe amount recommended by the British government.

Bond's drinking habits put him at high risk for numerous diseases and an early alcohol-related death, the authors write. "The level of functioning as displayed in the books is inconsistent with the physical, mental and indeed sexual functioning expected from someone drinking this much alcohol," the authors conclude.

They also suspect Bond's trademark order that his martinis be "shaken, not stirred" may have been because he had an alcohol-induced tremor and was simply unable to stir his drinks.