Despite published reports on some online adult sites that it would seek confidential medical documents, Health Department Chief Operating Officer John Schoenhoff told XBiz that the agency won’t ask for records relative to recent HIV findings.
“That rumor is totally false,” he said. “We’ve worked with AIM for years in a cordial manner.”
Much of the $12 billion adult content business was put to a halt after a second actor tested positive for HIV last week. The hiatus remains for at least 60 days while testing continues, but could extend beyond June. Not all adult content companies are participating in the voluntary quarantine and are keeping the cameras rolling.
AIM, which did not field calls from reporters on Tuesday, identified 55 actors and actresses who subsequently either worked with infected actors Darren James and Laura Roxx and the men and women they had sex with. The organization screens about 1,200 adult movie performers a month for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Cal/OSHA spokeswoman Susan Gard told XBiz that it would be at least six months before “special” regulations for the adult content industry could be in place.
The county Health Department is pushing a requirement for condom use for adult productions and inspections by the state
“We’ll take this one step at a time in creating a ‘model’ program for the adult industry,” Gard told XBiz.
Cal/OSHA also was asked to look at the production companies where James and Roxx, the two infected actors, worked.
Efforts to regulate the industry has faced numerous obstacles through the years, particularly since most porn actors are not employees, just independent contractors. Cal/OSHA's regulations only govern conduct between an employee and his or her employer, not between an employer and an independent contractor.
Enforcement of existing state regulations would require a condom-only policy and mean an end to practices in some pornographic movies that involve contact with semen. It also would require porn producers to bear the costs of any testing, vaccinations and medical care associated with their employees in the workplace, county Health Department officials said.
