The announcement, made a month earlier than expected, coincided with another message from the nonprofit that it has taken 19 adult movie performers off a voluntary quarantine list.
“As specialists in this field it is our view that the HIV would have clearly referenced by all of these methods in maximum of 30 days,” AIM said in a press release. “[AIM] wishes to thank you for your participation in keeping the industry healthy and abiding by all guidelines, set forth to protect the industry from the spread of HIV.”
Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based AIM, which originally asked for a 60-day moratorium in the industry, said its staff met with microbiology specialists on HIV who confirmed the 19 performers had undergone sufficient testing and could be released from quarantine.
The 19 performers waited 30 to 45 days from the date of exposure and have been tested at least twice, according to AIM. And some have been tested as many as five times, by at least six different testing methods.
“It is our view that with the definitive testing we have done in the last 30 days by PCR/DNA, PCR/RNA Quant and Logarithmic, Western Blot, P24 antigen and the Elisa methodology for HIV, after multiple battery of testing with comparable dates from exposure, sufficiently confirms negative status,” AIM said.
Nearly 50 people who performed with either Darren James or those he worked with have been on the quarantine list.
Five actors tested positive for the AIDS virus after James apparently acquired it in March while shooting a movie in Brazil.
One of the cases involved a transgender actor whose case was unrelated to the others.
Los Angeles County Health Department Director Dr. Jonathan Fielding said that AIM’s motives behind lifting the moratorium are unclear.
“I don’t know their rationale,” Fielding told XBiz. “There is no clarity whatsoever.”
Fielding, who was not advised of AIM’s decision, said that he was concerned that the inherent risks of the industry have not been addressed during the outbreak.
“And I’m not sure that the moratorium on filming was 100 percent preventative either,” Fielding said.
The announcement to lift the moratorium came after the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health was asked to investigate the current HIV crisis in the porn industry. The federal agency will advise the Los Angeles County Health Department on possible solutions for workplace safety on porn sets.
Separately, OSHA spokeswoman Susan Gard told XBiz Wednesday that the state agency has begun its investigation of the “exposure incident” relative to a film involving James.
