hepatitis testing In Porn...Now THERES a Can of Worms

[mikesouth]

from http://www.mikesouth.com

Talent testing has announced that starting on July 7, 2013 they will begin testing for Hep B and Hep C as part of the standard STD screen. Both AVN and XBiz dutifully reported this but nobody asked the real questions here.

What if a performer tests positive for Hep? Will they be listed as unavailable for work in APHSS?

Also whats interesting to see will be who DOESN?T test. I know for a FACT that there are performers who have HEP C and are working regularly. Speaking of those performers did they read about what happened to Mister Marcus? Was that a shot across the bow to them? If they know they have HEP and work anyway they could be facing criminal prosecution. is that why Nacho Vidal is suddenly pro condom?

I commend Sixto Pacheco for this move, don?t get me wrong this IS a can of worms and it is high time it was opened and CET had better follow suit.

Assuming they do there?s gonna be some A list talent out of work very soon.

[DWB]

About time. It is shocking that it took this long for industry testing for this.

[Rochard]

Doesn't six out of every ten people have this? Or something like that?

[DWB]

Originally Posted by Rochard

Doesn't six out of every ten people have this? Or something like that?

Maybe you're thinking of the herpes virus.

[The Porn Nerd]

Testing shoud be done, period.

[Tofu]

Originally Posted by DWB

Maybe you're thinking of the herpes virus.

I thought herpes was 1:4?

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Originally Posted by Rochard

Doesn't six out of every ten people have this? Or something like that?

Originally Posted by DWB

Maybe you're thinking of the herpes virus.

The CDC estimates about 1 million in the USA with HIV infections, whereas 3-4 million have Hep C, and many don't know they have the disease.



ADG

[Screwed Up]

In Europe Hep C testing seems standard.

I remember a doctor once telling me she'd prefer to get HIV over Hep C.

Thumbs up for progress.

[marcop]

Originally Posted by DWB

Maybe you're thinking of the herpes virus.

And shouldn't TTS, APHSS, et al, also be testing for herpes on a regular basis?

[Robbie]

I just looked up Hep C

Didn't really know a lot about it. I thought it was an incurable liver disease that you get from having sex.

Nope. Not incurable. And not even 100% belief among the medical community that it is spread via sex.

Here's what I read on wiki about spreading it:

"Sexual intercourse
Whether hepatitis C can be transmitted through sexual activity is controversial.
While there is an association between high-risk sexual activity and hepatitis C, it is not known whether transmission of the disease is due to drug use that has not been admitted to or sex as a risk factor.
The majority of evidence supports there being no risk for monogamous heterosexual couples.
Sexual practices that involve higher levels of trauma to the anogenital mucosa, such as anal penetrative sex, or that occur when there is a concurrent sexually transmitted infection, including HIV or genital ulceration, do present a risk.
The United States government only recommends condom use to prevent hepatitis C transmission in those with multiple partners."

And here's the facts about it being curable:
"The virus persists in the liver in about 85% of those infected. This persistent infection can be treated with medication: the standard therapy is a combination of peginterferon and ribavirin, with either boceprevir or telaprevir added in some cases.
Overall, 50?80% of people treated are cured. Those who develop cirrhosis or liver cancer may require a liver transplant. Hepatitis C is the leading cause of liver transplantation, though the virus usually recurs after transplantation"

What are we gonna test for next? This has to be bordering on invasion of privacy and some kind of laws that keep medical records private?

I'm not sure...but the thinking in our society that FUCKING is somehow "dangerous" is kinda strange to me.
The FACTS are that you have a real good chance of dying in a car accident on the way to getting laid.
As far as getting killed while having sex...you might have a heart attack when fucking...
OMG!!!!
That's what the next important "test" needs to be!

We need full EKG's on every performer. Oh the humanity! What if Ron Jeremy had dropped dead during a scene recently from a heart attack!!!!

I am shocked the "industry" hasn't been testing for heart disease all along!

And fuck!!!
What if someone shows up on set with pneumonia??? And spreads it to their co-star AND the entire crew!!!
That is FOUR MILLION DEATHS A YEAR!!!!

I can't believe we, as an "industry", have not been testing for pneumonia before a shoot.

This is outrageous.

From now on...for people to have sex while a camera films it....we MUST have a complete medical staff on site to test for every disease known to man!

I can't believe this hasn't already been done!

[mikesouth]

Originally Posted by marcop

And shouldn't TTS, APHSS, et al, also be testing for herpes on a regular basis?

hahaha there would be nobody left to perform pretty much

[Major (Tom)]

Originally Posted by Screwed Up

In Europe Hep C testing seems standard.

I remember a doctor once telling me she'd prefer to get HIV over Hep C.

Thumbs up for progress.

I agree. Glad they are testing for it. It's worse than aids by far
Ds

[pornlaw]

I had a meeting with TTS and Sixto last week in Miami about this issue...

The problem is going to be if CET doesnt start testing for Hepatitis immediately. There is no protocol in place at APHSS for the discrepancy between the tests of the two main testing facilities.

I suggested an idea that I think he will take to APHSS - and believe it or not - this wasnt thought of yet --

A performer would have to be cleared to return to work by the same testing facility that determined they werent available. We cannot allow "testing facility shopping" as it appears what happened in the Marcus situation...

Also,performers should start getting Hep vaccinations (including all directors/producers) immediately. It is a 6 month window from the first shot to the final and its possible that a performer will not be able to work until all 3 shots are complete.

For those performers that have had the vaccinations but dont have the record of such, I have no idea how APHSS/Cal-OSHA/LA Health Depart. will handle that.

Changes are about to hit the testing facilities and the protocols. This is only the first step. Anal and oral swabbing for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are coming as well.

[mikesouth]

Just got word from TTS that HEP positive performers will NOT be cleared to work. As Pornlaw said...now CET has to follow suit to stop the system from being circumvented.

[pornlaw]

I am curious to see if FSC/CET will also offer free screenings for Hepatitis to match TTS or are they going to try something different to keep the costs down...

[shimmy2]

my last tts was $110 im wondering how much more for the additional panels. more $ to labs and clinics

[mikesouth]

Originally Posted by shimmy2

my last tts was $110 im wondering how much more for the additional panels. more $ to labs and clinics

10 bucks more....120.00

[LittleMissBrat]

non-nude porn is the future

[mikesouth]

Originally Posted by pornlaw

I am curious to see if FSC/CET will also offer free screenings for Hepatitis to match TTS or are they going to try something different to keep the costs down...

Can I just say whomever came up with this...GENIUS! whether its you or Sixto this is a MASTER chess move.

[pornlaw]

Originally Posted by mikesouth

Can I just say whomever came up with this...GENIUS! whether its you or Sixto this is a MASTER chess move.

TTS and Sixto came up with the idea of adding the free Hepatitis testing... I had nothing to do with that.

I came up with the idea of changing the APHSS system so that the same testing facility would have to clear a performer to return to work. That doesnt allow for gaming the system.

I wrote about this issue almost a year ago ... http://adultbizlaw.com/is-there-a-hole-in-aphss/ during the syphilis exposure incident.

[DWB]

Originally Posted by Robbie

I just looked up Hep C

Didn't really know a lot about it. I thought it was an incurable liver disease that you get from having sex.

Nope. Not incurable. And not even 100% belief among the medical community that it is spread via sex.

We're all adults who can make our own decisions and everything in life can kill you. No argument there. But talent is lied to, told time and time again they are "safe" as long as they take their PCR HIV test, and most people are simply either too trusting or too dumb to look any more into it. The reality of it is that talent should know who is infected with what and make the decisions based on that information. On the flip side, talent who is known to be infected with a disease that can kill you if gone untreated should not be allowed to work in the business. Period.

How can you test for a couple STIs or one killer, and not all, while telling everyone they are safe? Run a full panel of tests and let everyone know where they stand. If the porn industry wants to be responsible for a change, that is what they have to do.

Girls pushed into no-condom scenes should be able to see the full panel of results from the guy they are about to screw bareback. The male showing a paper saying he has herpes, hpv, and hep c may just make one of those 18 year old girls change her mind, and rightfully so. However, as it stands now, all they see is they don't have G or C or HIV. That is only part of the information. In order to make a logical, educated decision, people should have all of the information.

I've tossed my cock into a lot of places I probably shouldn't have (and I know you have too), but I guarantee you that if one of them would have stopped us beforehand and showed a current Hep B or Hep C+ test result, we would have put on our pants and left.

[dyna mo]

i would prefer to not get hep c.

period.

[The Porn Nerd]

Originally Posted by pornlaw

Anal and oral swabbing for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea are coming as well.

Anal swabbing WooHoo! Now I AM coming - in for a test.

What's next, dudes in hazmat suits decontaminating girls onset?

[mikesouth]

Originally Posted by pornlaw

TTS and Sixto came up with the idea of adding the free Hepatitis testing... I had nothing to do with that.

I came up with the idea of changing the APHSS system so that the same testing facility would have to clear a performer to return to work. That doesnt allow for gaming the system.

I wrote about this issue almost a year ago ... http://adultbizlaw.com/is-there-a-hole-in-aphss/ during the syphilis exposure incident.

Sixtos move was BRILLIANT...I wouldnt play tiddlywinks with that guy ... much less chess LOL. Kudos to him...Michael i think you get what Im sayin

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Good to see some action on this issue. Let's create a safer environment for performers, and then get back to creating good clean smut for the masses to enjoy as part of their positive sex lives...



ADG

[JFK]

Originally Posted by mikesouth

10 bucks more....120.00

it's affordable

[Stephen]

not that any of you are cocaine fiends that need to worry, but you can get hep-c by sharing a straw with someone who is infected

[pornmasta]

they should also test papillomavirus...

[pornlaw]

Most people have HPV already and condoms don't do a great job in protecting against HPV... The HPV virus is smaller than the HIV virus and might be able to pass right through the latex membrane....

http://www.sfgate.com/health/article...es-3650285.php

[sadiedazzle]

I think that $10.00 is worth it not to have a deadly illness. I just shot in Europe and they do test for it there.

[Robbie]

Hey guys...I keep reading all these medical sites and they say over and over and over again that the risk of catching Hep C from sex is almost non-existant.

There has to be a blood to blood transfer.

In other words you would have to fuck a girl so hard that you BOTH bled.

This whole "testing for Hep C" is bullshit. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning.

Google it up for yourselves.

[AsianDivaGirlsWebDude]

Originally Posted by Robbie

This whole "testing for Hep C" is bullshit. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning.

Google it up for yourselves.

I did, and fuck...



I mean F-U-C-K!!!



ADG

[MaDalton]

Originally Posted by Robbie

Hey guys...I keep reading all these medical sites and they say over and over and over again that the risk of catching Hep C from sex is almost non-existant.

There has to be a blood to blood transfer.

In other words you would have to fuck a girl so hard that you BOTH bled.

This whole "testing for Hep C" is bullshit. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning.

Google it up for yourselves.

since testing for hepatitis is as common as hiv, syphillis etc. over here, i dont understand exactly what the problem is that you have.

i know you like your freedom - including bareback sex - and you were lucky to never catch anything serious.

but whats so bad to give people the security to know that they do what they can do keep it as safe as possible?

or at least catch those that are infected as early as possible?

i have a medical background and hepatitis takes a way smaller amount of virus than hiv to transmit - and it survives longer outside the body.

it doesnt harm to test for hepatitis when you draw blood anyways and over here people have been caught before - and taken off work before they could infect others.

better safe than sorry

[SomeCreep]

Don't ask, don't tell

[Barry-xlovecam]

Would you want to contract an infectious disease at work?

Not the common cold or flu.

An infectious disease that could kill you or make you miserable for years or life?

The problem here is the nature of the "work"; close intimate contact, etc.

Under the circumstances, disease screening does not seem that unreasonable.

[Grapesoda]

Originally Posted by MaDalton

since testing for hepatitis is as common as hiv, syphillis etc. over here, i dont understand exactly what the problem is that you have.

i know you like your freedom - including bareback sex - and you were lucky to never catch anything serious.

but whats so bad to give people the security to know that they do what they can do keep it as safe as possible?

or at least catch those that are infected as early as possible?

i have a medical background and hepatitis takes a way smaller amount of virus than hiv to transmit - and it survives longer outside the body.

it doesnt harm to test for hepatitis when you draw blood anyways and over here people have been caught before - and taken off work before they could infect others.

better safe than sorry

so all the content you produce is condom then?

[mikesouth]

Robbie
From a strictly numbers standpoint I would agree with you BUT

The big fly in the ointment is that there are now and there have been hep positive people performing in LA for a very long time. being that the talent pool is exatly that....a pool it doesn't take but one guy dropping a duece in the pool for everyone to get shit on them....so to speak. There are vaccines for hep a and b and hep C can be cleared out rather quickly. This test makes sense, specially now. We need to make some degree of effort to get the std rate in porn valley under control or condom porn is a guarantee....Hell it may even be too late now....

[MaDalton]

Originally Posted by Grapesoda

so all the content you produce is condom then?

i have neither said that nor do i know what you want to tell me with that. i have only said that it is good to test for Hepatitis because it is eventually deadly.

but i would love to shoot condom only and every client is welcome to order condom only porn from us.