LA Times Reports: “The petition… asks the court to order the county public health department to enforce regulations that require condom use in adult film production or take other ‘reasonable steps’ to stem the spread of disease.”
LOS ANGELES (July 16, 2009)⎯In response to the County’s inaction regarding the latest HIV outbreak and thousands of reported sexually transmitted diseases in LA’s porn industry, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) will host a press conference tomorrow, Friday, July 17th at 10:30 AM Pacific to announce the filing of a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH) to require condom use in the production of pornography.
The lawsuit was filed in Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles (Case No.: BS121665) today, Wednesday, July 16th and seeks a Writ of Mandate “compelling the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to discharge its ministerial and non-discretionary statutory duty to combat an acknowledged epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases stemming from production of hardcore pornography in Los Angeles County.”
AHF filed the lawsuit after exhausting all other methods to compel the County to fulfill its obligation to protect the public’s health in the wake of last month’s revelation that an actress working in the adult film business had tested positive for HIV. At that time, AHF had urged the County to better monitor HIV and STD prevention in the region’s adult film industry—and require condom use—or to shut down porn sets.
Since the June 17th reporting of the latest HIV outbreak—and the subsequent report by the LA Times that as many as 22 porn performers may have tested positive in the last five years—no action has been taken by the County to halt the spread of STDs on LA porn sets or to conduct the proper and legally required public health follow-up with those thought to be infected.
“The Department of Public Health has a responsibility to try and control the spread of STDs in LA County—particularly in a commercial venue. Despite this responsibility, 29 days after an outbreak of a potentially lethal virus—HIV—in the porn industry, the County has not taken a single step to address this serious public health threat,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “As an HIV and STD medical provider, it is our obligation to pursue County action on this issue, which goes beyond just the recent HIV outbreak and includes an epidemic of thousands of STD cases in the porn industry—an epidemic virtually ignored by the County Dept. of Public Health. This is not just about one industry, but about our entire community as the spread of disease among performers endangers themselves as well as their sexual partners outside the industry. There is no firewall between porn performers and the general public.”
The fact that the DPH is aware of the ongoing pervasive sexually transmitted disease crisis in LA’s pornography industry is well documented. DPH has cited numerous figures confirming an STD epidemic among performers in adult films, including the fact that performers in hardcore pornography are ten times more likely to be infected with a sexually transmitted disease than members of the population at large.
“You cannot implement effective public health under a cone of silence. Unfortunately, whether due to squeamishness around the subject matter or plain bureaucratic indifference, silence has been the County’s only response when it comes to the rampant STD problem in LA’s porn industry,” added Weinstein.
According to figures cited by DPH, there were 2,013 documented cases of Chlamydia among LA porn performers between 2003 and 2007. In the same period, 965 cases of gonorrhea were documented. Many performers suffer multiple infections. In the period April 2004 to March 2008 there have been 2,847 STD infections diagnosed among 1,884 performers in the hardcore industry in LA County. DPH attributes the epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases in the porn industry to a lack of protective equipment for partners, including condoms. The agency recommends condoms be used during production, but has never taken steps to ensure their use, or to protect the performers who are essentially required to endanger their health in order to remain employed.
“By recommending—but not requiring—condom use on porn film sets, the County is basically abdicating its responsibility to perform its main function—which is to protect the public health,” said Whitney Engeran-Cordova, Director of AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Public Health Division. “Thousands of STDs could be prevented in Los Angeles County with the mandated use of condoms on porn sets.”
The lawsuit’s Prayer for Relief states: “That this Court issue a write of mandate, directing DPH to enforce California Health and Safety Code sections 120575 and 120175 by requiring all performers to use condoms in the making of hardcore pornography, or alternatively taking any and all other reasonable steps necessary to stem the spread of sexually transmitted diseases in the production of pornography in Los Angeles County.”
“Despite a duty to take all reasonable measures necessary to prevent transmission of these diseases, LA public health officials have done nothing to combat this known, serious health threat to the people of Los Angeles County,” said Brian Chase, Assistant Legal Counsel for AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “Not only is the County in clear violation of California Health and Safety Code, but the agency’s inaction is needlessly placing thousands of people at risk of disease and death.”
AHF has previously sought remedy for public health issues through the legal system and succeeded. Late last year, in response to an AHF lawsuit filed in Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles, a judge ordered California’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to implement a landmark 2002 law intended to extend Medi-Cal (Medicaid) coverage to HIV-positive Californians. The Court ruled that the state’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) “…arbitrarily failed to meet its statutory duties…” in implementing the 2002 legislation.
About AHF
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the US’ largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider, which operates the largest HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted disease testing and prevention program in California. AHF currently provides treatment, care and support services to more than 100,000 individuals in 21 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia. Additional information is available at www.aidshealth.org