Production houses halt work as porn artist tests positive for AIDS

As confirmed to The Times on Tuesday by officials at the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, known as AIM, a Sherman Oaks clinic that primarily serves porn industry workers said that this is the first known local case in a year.

This immediately triggered calls by AIDS activists in the state to mandate condom use on porn sets and to increase regulation.

"We are quarantining and testing all exposed partners to the individual," said Jennifer Miller, an HIV/STD counselor at the clinic who declined to disclose the gender of the person who tested positive, what companies he or she worked for, when the person was tested, and whether AIM had notified state and county officials.

"We're doing what we can to notify the individuals involved," Miller said.

Production houses halt work
Citing the incident, Vivid Entertainment, based in Van Nuys, and Wicked Pictures, based in Canoga Park, suspended production on Tuesday.

"We did this as a precaution and will continue to monitor the situation," said Steven Hirsch, Vivid's founder and co-chairman. "We will wait for all of the facts to emerge before resume production."

Earlier, a similar 2004 HIV outbreak in the San Fernando Valley-based porn industry had caused shut down of production for a month. The current case would surely fuel the continuing controversy over whether the industry does enough to protect performers, officials believe

Wicked Pictures officials reported that they had halted filming to allow AIM to create a "comprehensive quarantine list."

However, some associations like Free Speech Coalition, a Canoga Park-based porn trade association, said it was too early to draw conclusions.

"What we know is someone tested HIV-positive; we don't know the circumstances. What we do know is AIM has identified that someone is HIV-positive and is taking care of it," the trade association’s official said.

Earlier incidents
Earlier, a similar 2004 HIV outbreak in the San Fernando Valley-based porn industry had caused shut down of production for a month.

In that case, almost 30 companies had voluntarily stopped filming in order to wait for results on dozens of adult performers who had engaged in sex scenes with either the HIV-positive Darren James or the three female performers he had in past infected with HIV.

The current case would surely fuel the continuing controversy over whether the industry does enough to protect performers, officials believe.