U.S. porn industry had 16 unpublicized HIV cases

[alienlovechild 75]

LOS ANGELES, June 12 (Reuters) - There have been 16 unpublicized cases of HIV among porn actors since a 2004 outbreak made headlines, Los Angeles health officials said on Friday, a disclosure that was likely to raise new concerns about AIDS in the adult film industry.

The revelation came in response to a request for information by the Los Angeles Times, which reported that an unidentified actress had tested positive last week.

The adult film industry had said it was the first case since the 2004 outbreak, the Times reported.

In fact 22 performers have tested positive, including last week's case and five in 2004, according to the numbers released by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

Since the 2004 outbreak, in which a male star infected three actresses and another performer also tested positive, the $12-billion-a-year U.S. adult film industry has required regular testing by porn actors.

Most of that testing is conducted by the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, which issues work certificates to the performers who test negative.

The unnamed actress first tested positive for HIV on June 4 and worked the following day before taking second and third tests, according to the Times.

The second test was also positive and results of the third were pending, according to AIM Healthcare.

"AIM Healthcare has never been cooperative with us and our investigations," Dean Fryer, a spokesman for the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health, told the paper, adding that the clinic had refused to name the actress or her employer.

In a statement on its website, AIM Healthcare said it was still awaiting "final confirmation" that the actress was positive for HIV.

The porn industry, which is largely centered in the San Fernando Valley suburbs of Los Angeles, includes about 200 production companies that employ about 1,200 actors, the Times said.

Since 2004, 1,357 porn performers have tested positive for gonorrhea and 15 for syphilis, according to county health data cited by the Times.

[scandal 951]

It's a hazardous workplace.

Should be governed by OSHA regulations for workplace safety, just like the rest of us.

[웃 910]

LOS ANGELES, June 12 (Reuters) -

Since the 2004 outbreak, in which a male star infected three actresses and another performer also tested positive......

Sad story.....

Darren James (born February 25, 1964 in Detroit, Michigan) is a former pornographic actor who sent shock waves throughout the adult entertainment industry and made worldwide headlines after testing positive for HIV.

To prevent an HIV outbreak, an urgent search was initiated for his potentially infected partners.[1] The search and subsequent testing was conducted by the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation. James had apparently had contact with 12 women since his initial negative HIV test in March upon his return from a Brazilian shoot, where he was suspected to have been infected by Bianca Biaggi.[2][3][4] By the end of the month it was discovered that three actresses who had worked with James shortly after his return to the United States (two of whom were involved in the same production) had also become infected with the virus. These were Canadian newcomer Lara Roxx, Miss Arroyo, and Czech-born Jessica Dee.[5][6] Viral load comparisons between Roxx and James indicated that James was "Patient Zero".[7] Roxx had only entered the adult industry two months before her scene with James. [8] On learning about James being HIV-positive, she has said, "It totally made me realize how I trusted this system that wasn't to be trusted at all, because it obviously doesn't work," and "I thought porn people were the cleanest people in the world."[8] Judy Star appeared in several movies where James and Roxx were also in the cast, and was known to have performed a sex scene with a female actress who had performed an ####### scene with James.[9] Star, however, tested negative for HIV.[10]

The ensuing fears of HIV infection (as well as the public scandal and criticisms of the industry that followed the outbreak) caused a temporary shutdown of production of adult movies in the U.S.[11] Although never having been officially barred from performing in front of the cameras, James has since turned to directing.[citation needed]

In 2005 James and the industry shutdown was the subject of the first episode of The Dark Side of Porn, a British documentary series produced for Channel 4.[12]

LINK (Wikipedia)

The unnamed actress first tested positive for HIV on June 4 and worked the following day before taking second and third tests, according to the Times.

I wonder who the unknown actress is? I've probably seen a few of her movies

[웃 910]

1) Lara Roxx

Roxx became famous at age 21, because she was exposed to HIV while doing a pornographic scene with Darren James. This was two months after doing her first scene ever, a double #######, as Roxx earlier said that she relied on the industry's HIV standards to ensure her safety.[1]

James and Roxx have been banned from any further porn production in the US. At the end of April 2004, it was confirmed that Jessica Dee and Miss Arroyo, after having worked with James, also tested positive for HIV.[2]

Roxx, on learning about James being HIV-positive, said, "It totally made me realize how I trusted this system that wasn't to be trusted at all, because it obviously doesn't work," and "I thought porn people were the cleanest people in the world."[1]

Roxx appeared on Entertainment tonight, in an ABC special. In 2007, on an episode of The Maury Povich Show, she came on to talk to wild teens about her past, and to help them prevent making the mistakes she made in the past.

She is currently working on various projects linked to the 2004 events like the Lara Roxx Foundation who is committed to educating and preventing the propagation of HIV/AIDS.

LINK (LARA ROXX)

2) Jessica Dee (born November 14, 1978) is a Czech pornographic actress.

She contracted HIV in March 2004. Fears of a widespread epidemic based on these infections led to a one month shutdown of the adult movie industry in the United States, ending on May 12, 2004.

The related quarantine was coordinated by the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, or AIM, which runs an HIV-screening program for the industry.

After her career as an active performer ended, she briefly worked as a director for Los Angeles-based porn studio Platinum X Pictures, directing five films, including two in her own series called Throat Yogurt.

LINK (JESSICA DEE)

3) Miss Arroyo (limited info)

[Nagishkaw 510]

They reap what they sow and I don't feel a bit sorry for them.

[scandal 951]

They reap what they sow and I don't feel a bit sorry for them.

Really?

I do. They're working legally in an industry that supposedly is regulating the safety of the workplace.

They've broken no laws, and through the course of doing their work they've come to tragic outcome.

How is this any different than if they were miners who got lung cancer, or meatpackers who lost fngers or arms due to workplace accidents?

The same compassion I would feel for these workers is due to the performers in the porn industry. They're providing a legal service that the public demands. There is a workplace hazard, and the industry (or else government) better step in to ensure a safe workplace.

[Mrs. Disney 0]

They reap what they sow and I don't feel a bit sorry for them.

They are well aware that whoever they are having sex with have had sex previously with a million other people. You'd think those people would demand their film's partners to be tested. I don't think they deserved it but shame on them for being so careless.

[alienlovechild 75]

How is this any different than if they were miners who got lung cancer, or meatpackers who lost fngers or arms due to workplace accidents?

Miners get black lung disease over a course of years digging coal vital for our economy. Porn actors can get easily get AIDs in one sexual contact given the number of sex partners these folks have.

I thought porn people were the cleanest people in the world."

They aren't surgeons but they are up to their members in bodily fluids.

What's the difference between a porn star and meatpackers? The body temperature of the meat.

Edited June 12, 2009 by alienlovechild