US porn industry hit by HIV fear

[kskiska]

Leading figures in the US pornography industry have called for all adult movie production to cease for two months because of fears of an HIV epidemic among its stars.

The porn business in the US is believed to be worth billions of dollars every year and its stars are frequently monitored for HIV.

For four years it is claimed that not a single porn star gave a positive test, but earlier this month actor Darren James, tested positive. It is now feared that the San Fernando-based actor may be one of many infected stars. A dozen women he has appeared with on film recently are being tested.

The Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation called for production to cease for two months while all actors were tested for the virus. The proposal has been seconded by the industry's trade publication, Adult Video News.

more…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1193152,00.html

[Stuckinthebush]

1. I've often wondered about HIV and the porn industry

I would applaud their stance to cease filming for a while until actors could be reliably screened. That seems like the intelligent thing to do.

[PaDUer]

10. Was Asscan

a "hidden" member?

[benburch]

2. I worry about my friends.

I have some dear friends in this industry. I am very concerned.

[papau]

3. Mary Carey, an adult movie star who ran for CALgovernor -canceled a shoot

Mary Carey, an adult movie star who ran for governor of California last fall, said she had not worked with the HIV-infected actor or his co-stars. However, as a precaution she was canceling a lesbian porn shoot even though she did not consider it risky.

[benburch]

4. I'm still trying to figure out who the actor is?

Do you know? The www.aim-med.org site is down.

[benburch]

5. Oh duh.

It says it in this story.

Doh!

<<Color me red>>

I was too upset to read it properly.

[PaDUer]

11. There was an article

the other day on this, along w/ the pix of the people.

[PaDUer]

12. Here's the link to the story

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=VRGRWSAN0SIGICRBAEKSFEY?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=4843095
The above url isn't being hyperlinked correctely...better copy/paste..it's a lengthy article.

By Gina Keating
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California's multi-billion-dollar adult porn industry ground to a virtual halt on Thursday after a popular actor tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS.

Industry advocates immediately called for a 60-day moratorium on filming so that others could be tested.

Actor Darren James tested positive for HIV on Wednesday in screening conducted routinely on the industry's 1,200 regular actors by the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare (AIM) Foundation, the foundation's Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell said.

They must show negative tests to keep working in the industry, Mitchell said, adding that only about 17 percent of performers use condoms.

James, the first porn actor to test positive for the virus since 1999, had a "stellar record" of tests -- negative every three weeks for the past seven years, she said.
-snip-

The at-risk actors have been quarantined until June 8, and Mitchell has advocated a moratorium on shooting until the extent of the infection is known.
-snip-

"Most of the people I have talked to are cooperating," she said. "There are a few people that won't. But if I find out there is talent working I won't ever hire them again."
Kelly said she was quarantined in 1999 after working with actor Tony Montana who subsequently tested positive for HIV and infected several co-stars.

[nodehopper]

6. false negatives

if you take anti-retrovirals early enough after presumed expousre, the virus can be suppressed ot the point that you can get false negatives over and over, so you may think you don't have it. but you are still a carrier and can pass it to others...so it's sad but not suprising that even people who are diligent about being tested can pass on or be infected...

[dogonarug]

14. What???

An HIV test is given to determine whether antibodies that are produced in response to infection,(seroconversion) are present. If you are talking about suppression of the viral load, the infection already exists...thus, so do the antibodies...I believe that what you are referring to is, taking antiretrovirals immediately after a suspected exposure (e.g. a health worker who has sustained a needle prick)to hopefully stave off seroconversion...Please check your facts! information can be dangerous!

[nodehopper]

24. I do have my facts straight

You can get false negatives first of all during the serological window, also if you are infected with a group O virus (commonly found in Cameroon and Gabon), OR in general when your body is not producing antibodies. This can happen very early on in the infection or very late in it (but by then presumably you are aware that you have it). If your immune system is doing well and you started taking the drugs early enough you can get false negatives.

Here is a quote from a Canadian website about HIV testing technologies( http://www.aidslaw.ca/Maincontent/issues/testing/e-compulsorytesting/testingtechnologies.htm.)

"the level of virus in the blood drops after the initial stage of infection, and tests that detect virus in the blood may produce false negative results.<84> This is particularly likely in persons receiving antiretroviral drugs, which can reduce the amount of virus in the blood to undetectable levels."

My friend is dating a man who was diagnosed with HIV when he was 17. He is now 28 and has been on anti-retrovirals for years. He has been getting false negatives for years now. But he still has HIV and informs all of his partners about it.

I agree that information can be dangerous. But I am sharing information that is accurate and underreported.

[Mattforclark]

7. Jill Kelly

"Anyone who continues to shoot at this point are complete idiots."

- No. IS a complete IDIOT.

[yltlatl]

8. Why would anyone who makes their living this way

endanger that by risking a positive test? I think it would take an uncommonly altruistic person to sacrifice their career for the sake of their colleagues--especially when you just got a death sentence. Besides, where's the enforcement? Where are the watchdog groups that are making sure these people are adequately tested and that the results are accurately reported to the industry? You have to figure that if what nodehopper says is correct, it's common knowledge--and common practice--among the performers.

[mobuto]

9. Really?

I don't think it takes an uncommonly altruistic person not to want to commit murder - because that's what you're doing if you have unprotected sex and you don't reveal you're HIV positive. Career be damned, a porn star has the potential to kill hundreds of people through primary and secondary contact.

[yltlatl]

13. Well, you're right about the murder,

but you have to remember that you're hanging out with about 45,000 self-selecting altruists. Besides, everybody--and I mean EVERYBODY--is capable of self-deception. More to the point, I think most people's capacity for self-deception can more than overcome a little thing like murder--even mass murder. Case in point: Nazi Germany. I can't believe that the majority of an entire nation thought it was a good idea to exterminate millions of people, and yet they let it happen. Another case in point: I'm sure that more than one DU'er owns a natural diamond, but most DU'ers probably know that you could make a credible argument that owning a natural diamond is the same thing as murder. Another case in point: since we're all on DU, I think it's safe to say the majority of us are from the rich western countries. Even those of us who go out of our way to consume less and respect the planet still live an extravagant lifestyle compared to 2/3 of the planet's population--a lifestyle which is supported by the continued impoverishment (and even death) of the world's poor.

Look at it this way: if you had a choice between a little white lie (there's that self-deception thing) and giving up your livlihood, which would you choose?

[Frangible]

16. actually

"Case in point: Nazi Germany. I can't believe that the majority of an entire nation thought it was a good idea to exterminate millions of people, and yet they let it happen."

Most Germans didn't know about the mass murders at the concentration camps until after the war... including the soldiers.

They showed footage of it to German POWs in the US, and they refused to believe it at first.

The thing is, Nazi Germany wasn't very different from any other country in the world. At the time, people in the US hated "jews", "niggers", "japs", etc as well. No one really cared when Germany blamed their problems on the jews, because feelings of anti-semitism were everywhere.

Even today, we are not so different. We are fighting a war to "liberate" people in a country based on false reasons-- exactly what Hitler and Gobbels said about Poland. (Hitler even mentioned terrorism, and chemical weapons too.)

It never ceases to amaze me how people always demonize Nazi Germany, and act as if they were subhuman. That's a big mistake-- they were human just as we were, and we need to learn from the past so it never, ever happens again.

[yltlatl]

21. people always demonize Nazi Germany

You'll get no argument from me that Nazi Germany is a tired cliche when it comes to terrible atrocities committed in the name of this or that people throughout history--it's just one of the very few that a majority of people actually know about, so it makes a useful example. You'll also notice that in this particular post I wasn't acting as if Germans of that period were subhuman--on the contrary, I was saying that they were all too human in that they let the atrocities perpetrated in their name happen through a collective act of self-deception.

As for "most Germans didn't know" I think that's a crock, even if there is documentary evidence to support it. The Brownshirts were beating people up for nearly a decade before the concentration camps started, and Hitler wasn't exactly subtle about what he thought the "inferior" races deserved. It really wouldn't have been too hard a leap to make to think that there was some wholesale slaughter going on. When the Nazis first tried to implement the "Final Solution" in eastern Europe, they found the SS couldn't shoot enough Jews, and they made regular Army troops help out (they hadn't yet invented the gas chambers or constructed the death camps). I've seen interviews with Germans who lived through the period who said "everybody knew it was happening." Now, I've also heard interviews where people said what you're saying, but given how easy it must have been to connect the dots, I think those people who claim they didn't know are either simpletons or are deceiving themselves.

[mobuto]

22. Bullshit

Most Germans didn't know about the mass murders at the concentration camps until after the war... including the soldiers.


The only Germans who didn't know were those who didn't want to know. In every town, village and hamlet in Germany and across occupied Europe, every single Jew was hunted down and either executed on the spot or herded through the streets to the railroad station and off to the camps. It was no secret.

The thing is, Nazi Germany wasn't very different from any other country in the world. At the time, people in the US hated "jews", "niggers", "japs", etc as well. No one really cared when Germany blamed their problems on the jews, because feelings of anti-semitism were everywhere.

While it was bad, and much worse than it is today, it still wasn't the same. The overwhelming majority of Americans were opposed to anti-Semitism in general, and Hitler's anti-Semitic policies in particular, well before the war.

[mongo]

30. All adult perforfmers are tested every 28 days

There is an industry "watchdog" group - it's called AIM. Performers have to be tested every 28 days, and producers can get the results over the phone or on a secure website.


BTW - if you would like to help, Jenna Jameson has set up a fund for the out-of-work performers, and the camera crews, etc. in the industry

Donations can be sent to:
AIAF c/o club jenna inc.
8390 E Viade Ventura
Suite s-110 #258
Scottsdale AZ 85258

Here's an article about it
http://www.avn.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Articles&Action=View_Article&Content_ID=80765

[Frangible]

15. between this and Ashcroft's anti-porn crusade...

I worry for the future of my lesbian pr0n!

[dogonarug]

17. Delete this thread

I suggest that The mods delete this thread. The misinformation re: HIV infection is potentially dangerous. From nodehopper's claim to yltlatl's question of "where are the watchdog groups" for HIV positive's, this subject is too complex and misunderstood to casually discuss it here. Media misinformation has put enough people at risk,
let's not do it here!

[benburch]

18. Go to hell.

This is about a real problem faced by workers in a real industry, some of whom are my close friends. The fact that some people misunderstand the issue is not the fault of those in the industry.

[dogonarug]

19. You are right

It is a very real problem...as is the dissemination of incorrect information. If this thread only addressed the thread topic...no harm done. The problem as I see it, arises when anecdotal MEDICAL INFORMATION is posted. You tell me to "go to hell"...probably will someday, However, my request to delete is an attempt to help stop someone else's friend(s)...on this site, reading this thread... from making potentially deadly decisions based on incorrect information.

[Dead_Parrot]

20. Dr DU is in...

Anyone daft enough to get critical medical advice from a fairly light-hearted political website will find some other way to prove Darwin right, even if the thread is locked. DU's good, but there's limits to what even Zombie coffee will cure...

Unless they were deliberately infected by the CIA, in which case we wanna know. :tinfoilhat:

[nodehopper]

25. why don't you read my response to you above

It's not a "claim," it's medical information.

[Lostnote03]

23. Question?

.....anyone recall the name of the Lawyer/Doctor that has sued the Federal Govt. for pioneering the AIDS virus back in the early 70's....I know that he won his appeal and now is in a holding pattern wrt a court date.....

[nodehopper]

27. do you mean Dr. Graves?

who was demanding the full discolsure of the Special Virus Program from the US gov't? that lawsuit got thrown out in2003...I think he was roughed up by the police in the process as well. his website it here:
http://www.boydgraves.com/

[Lostnote03]

28. Thanks Node....

...Yup, thats the guy...I thought that he had won his appeal....I'll have to do a little reading up on the subject....Thanks for the reply....Best Wishes

[frankly_fedup2]

26. My brother-in-law died about

6 weeks ago from AIDS. No funeral home would embalm his body. They picked his body up at the hospital and immediately picked the coffin that he fit (the cheapest, of course), and sealed it immediately. They stated that they did not want to put any of their employees at risk.

They said that if we wanted to have a viewing at the funeral home, that since they could not embalm him that he wouldn't even look like himself and it would be very traumatic for all of us. They said we could have it with the coffin closed (the one he was already in).

Since we could not have a service, we just had like a 10-minute graveside service. He was 40 years old and his wife died a little over 3 years ago from AIDs. Who knows how they got it????

[CabalBuster]

29. very sad. Two dear friends of mine also died of AIDS n/t