Dennis RomeroThe porn industry's trade group announced tonight that it would soon lift the voluntary production shut-down that followed a third report of a performer coming up HIV positive.
See also: Porn Biz Shut Down Again Over Yet Another HIV Case.
The Free Speech Coalition says the moratorium would end Friday and that performers who wanted to get back in on the action would have to take new tests starting Thursday. The organization also said twice-a-month STD testing would be “required” for porn stars:
The industry's Performer Availability Screening Services will now require tests that are 14 days or younger for performers working on sets that are a part of FSC's coalition of production companies, including many if not most of the world's biggest adult video makers.
Of course, that's somewhat voluntary (porn stars can always work outside the system, as they reportedly have even during the moratorium). The law in most of L.A. county, in fact, requires no testing. Rather, it says condoms must be used on-set, a rule ignored by the industry.
The FSC says its monthly testing has worked — catching HIV and other STD outbreaks like the one at-hand — and that 14-day tests comprise an even more “conservative approach” in the wake of at least three performers coming up positive since August.
FSC CEO Diane Duke:
Our industry protocols are designed to be conservative and our doctors support a conservative approach, for the health and well-being of the performers. That is why moving forward, the physicians have recommended and we have implemented, a 14-day testing protocol.
Credit: File photo of porn's AVN Awards by Nate 'Igor' Smith for LA Weekly
The FSC says none of the HIV positives happened on-set.
Patient zero Cameron Bay and her boyfriend, Rod Daily, both came up positive. Daily reportedly worked both gay and straight porn. The third positive was identified in the adult trade press as a female performer but so far appeared to be unconnected to the couple.
See also: Rod Daily: Second Porn Star Comes Up HIV Positive.
The adult coalition says this outbreak appears to be over. Its first moratorium lasted from Aug. 21 to Aug. 27. The second will have gone from Sept. 6 to Sept. 20:
September 19th marks 14 days since Patient #3 tested positive for HIV. The window period for the HIV RNA Aptima test is seven to ten days, but industry protocols dictate that retests occur 14 days or later as an added precaution.
The organization denies reports that a fourth performer has tested positive for HIV. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which spearheaded the county condom law, was the source of those reports.
The AHF says city, county, state and federal workplace safety rules require condoms in porn. The industry says consumers won't buy condom porn.
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