WTF?!? LA Times: 16 Previously Confirmed HIV Cases in Porn Industry (Since 2004)
 

(06-11) 20:48 PDT Los Angeles, CA (AP) --

Los Angeles County health officials say there have been 16 previously unpublicized confirmed cases of HIV in adult film industry performers since 2004 when an outbreak shut down porn production for a month.

The county Department of Public Health data was requested by The Los Angeles Times and announced Thursday.

The newly released data brings the number of known HIV cases in adult film performers to 22 since 2004, including a porn actress who tested positive late last week.

The San Fernando Valley-based Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation announced Wednesday that an actress tested positive for HIV last Saturday.

Adult film industry workers had described the new case as the first since 2004.

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What the hell?!? Somebody at AIM has some explaining to do... :mad:

ADG

Damn... The shit is getting deep now

I'm beginning to wonder if AIM is more interested in protecting their profit center rather than the industry by failing to disclose previous HIV positive test results (assuming they were the testing company).

I've always been generally supportive of AIM, largely because I thought they were operating with transparency and keeping the industry informed, however the most recent case seems to indicate that they are trying to cloak and shield information rather than keep us informed to protect their own financial interests.

Anyone at AIM care to comment?

ADG

This is troubling, and it could cause some serious, serious problems for all of us.

If AIM knew about all of this but stayed silent, I am absolutely appalled.

Time for somebody from AIM to get in here and start confirming or denying, and answering some questions. :2 cents:

ADG

16? How on earth did the industry have 16 confirmed cases, and none of them end up on gfy?

That's a hella lot of people keeping their mouths tightly closed.

Going solely on reading alone, and with no first hand knowledge, this doesn't sound good for AIM at all.

If they knew and said nothing, then that is a fucking disgrace!

At least warn people about trends, and help us to protect our performers.

I hate to think that their silence may have caused others to become exposed/infected, if indeed they were aware. :mad:

ADG

Are we 100% sure the LA Times reporting is accurate?

Let's see...

What does the LA Times gain by falsely reporting this:

What does AIM gain by staying silent (if they in fact knew what was going on, but remained silent)?

Oh yeah, business as usual. :upsidedow

ADG

From LukeIsBack.com:

ADG

I am waiting comments from AIM.

This should be a rally call for the radical right.

damn this is fucked up if it's true.. i wonder if AIM will respond to this :disgust

if California were to legislate condoms had to used the porn biz would leave LA fast - everybody would be moving shop to Miami. guys who watch porn really do hate condoms in their porn.

Exactly right. "Porn Valley" would cease to exist and Las Vegas, Phoenix and Miami would become more populated with production companies.

It appears as if AIM has their own agenda, which from what I gather is to force the industry (in the US only) to use condoms, and to continue making money from testing nonetheless.

If forced to use condoms in hardcore scenes, I will (even though any of my male/female performers can currently request to use condoms and I agree to this without condition, while still insisting on testing).

If this becomes the case, then I will certainly seek out testing facilities other than AIM, since I will feel as if they had a hidden agenda, by not disclosing previous cases of HIV positive cases (even though myself and other producers thought that they would).

By pushing for Mandatory condom usage (which conceivably may reduce their liability), while continuing to promote their profit center, without disclosing past positive tests (if that is the case), they will have undermined my trust and faith in their organization, since foreign producers will conceivably continue to shoot bareback (without condoms), and as such, possibly gain a competitive advantage over US producers such as myself.

:2 cents:

ADG

would be interesting to see:2 cents:

It's beginning to appear as if AIM might possibly be putting their profits ahead of the general interest of the industry (at least from some perspectives).

Until the most recent case, I certainly had no idea that AIM might be trying to hush-hush what was going on.

I wonder how many of the 16 additional HIV positive tests since the 2004 outbreak, which were reported about today, that AIM was also aware of, but has been publicly silent about.

I'm not sure who all was in the know, but I also did not know that AIM was actively lobbying for mandatory condom testing.

It is highly doubtful that AIM is unaware of the shit storm that they are in the middle of on this and other forums.

And yet, still they CHOOSE to be silent - interesting... :disgust

ADG

guys besides this story, there is one saying that AIM is not cooperation with the Cali health department, and the reason AIM is giving for not posting names is that they got sued during the last HIV crisis in 2004. I just got word that the lawsuit was brought by Darren James and he recieved a 6 figure settlement. Please comment on what you think. Full stories are at the of my postings on Lukeisback.com

wow..16 people is a LOT of people

Interesting read...thanks for sharing. :thumbsup

I guess I missed the memo where AIM informed people in the industry that they had to pay out a low six-figure amount to Darren James for publicly posting that he was HIV Positive, as the article you cited seemed to indicate.

Neither do I recall any change in policy memo from AIM stating that they would not be publishing the names of the other people that subsequently tested HIV Positive, in order to presumably protect themselves from possible lawsuits, even if this meant keeping the rest of the industry in the dark.

If AIM's chronology is correct in the most recent case, and they did not falsely indicate that the most recent HIV person was clear (as has been alleged), then this recent case is proof that some in the industry are susceptible to inadvertently working with performers that may in fact be HIV Positive.

Instead of lobbying for mandatory condoms, shouldn't AIM be lobbying to allow themselves to protect the industry by being permitted to have performers waive their right to privacy if they contract HIV, and publicly announce the name of the HIV Positive performer, if the performer could potentially expose/infect other industry people to the virus prior to notification getting out (especially since it appears that not everyone checks in with AIM each and every time)?

ADG

does aim have anyone on gfy?

I blame it on the tubes

If this is true, then the LA porn machine needs to shut its doors until they can find a solution better than AIM.

some clinic on the side of a street in California doesnt really have to publicize every disease they find lol

From someone that does the business that you do, I honestly have to say that I am surprised that you said that about the profit.

If they do i'm not expecting them to post any time soon...

That's really sad, this is why I like shooting the amateurs next door

While I also prefer amateurs, lets not kid ourselves by thinking it is impossible for them to also be sick. A dirty girl or boy is a dirty girl or boy, regardless of her/his profession.

I like HIV poo

i don't understand how the county got the info, does aim tell the government but not the industry about the hiv cases?



quite frankly, at this point i do not trust aim, the county health officials or the la times

Very sad news!

AsianDivaGirlsWebDude you really suprised me

Do you really think that business whether its a health organisation or not is transparent ?

No biz is fully transparent and never will be and especially the health sector in the USA the UK ect.. these guys are out to make money like any other biz and if it means hiding the truth to keep profits thats exactly what they will do.
Its very sad when health organisations play with peoples lifes but it happens over here with the use of certian drugs which in some places our NHS will give out but if you live in the wrong area you wont get it. Money talks and life walks.. its a fact of life :2 cents:

I'm not sure what the big deal is here. If Joe Shmoe gets tested and is then told he has HIV, then his test is no good. At that point, Joe Shmoe does not have a good test, and is not allowed to perform. He cannot provide a clean and current test.

Isn't that the point? If that happened 10, 12 or 16 times over the past 5 years, then that's how it went down. Where is the conspiracy?

You want the testing facilities to post Joe Shmoe's name publicly? Why? He did not get a useable test result, so he cannot provide a clean test to producers, so he is not a risk to a production company who is properly checking tests. Isn't that the goal?

If a huge deal was made for every positive HIV test rsult, and potential talent was called out publicly (for no good reason), then how long will it be before people begin faking non-AIM test results, rather than risk the chance of getting called out publicly, should they fail?

I have many problems with AIM (no hepititis, no herpes, etc), but WTF?

What am I missing here?

holy crap... we need someone to name names!

as a producer, i'm exposed to these girls and guys too - body fluids are everywhere on set even when you're not in the scene

this is a real risk to anyone around them

As a producer, aren't you checking test results? If so, then your performers have good tests. Why do you need names of people who failed their tests? You aren't filming those people, and they are not handing you failed tests, so why should names be named?

of course i check tests and make sure the talent also check each other's paperwork and IDs for themselves

but my understanding here is that the infected MILF shot while her HIV results were indeterminate - so therefore she could have worked with guys/girls that i subsequently shot, because they wrongfully assumed she was good to go

I don't see the big deal with the whole "we don't want condoms in porn" bullshit.

I've seen Vivid do it a lot.

I even watched a lesbian DVD yesterday where they even used condoms on the strap-ons to protect against regular STDs.

It all makes perfect sense.

And if porn buyers don't respect the need to use protection to protect peoples lives then they are even bigger idiots that are probably having un-protected sex with hookers and sluts and will probably catch it themselves.

Porn should lead by example and start using protection for all scenes. it will also lead to viewers and youngsters who manage to watch porn into seeing that you should use protection and protect yourself.

Porn in these times I believe is a major cause for the spread of infections and teenage pregnancy. Obviously there are a lot of other factors. but by not using protection in porn production people out there are thinking:

"hey this girl has been in over 100 scenes fucking guys and she doesn't catch anything! why should I wear a condom"

because just because somebody has a clean test doesn't mean they don't have HIV - it can take up to 30 days from the date of infection for HIV to show up on the test. Somebody could get infected with HIV today, 3 days later decides to enter the porn biz, goes to LA and gets tested at AIM, test is negative, he/she goes on to shoot 20 scenes, next AIM test he/she tests positive for HIV.

exactly :thumbsup

which is why it would be good to have the names of this quarantine group

i think i'll just start shooting with surgical gloves on