Two gay porn actors have been diagnosed with HIV, one almost certainly infecting the other during a shoot in Nevada where officials say testing standards were lower than the industry standards.
They had both tested negative before completing two shoots. But in the time between testing and completing the scenes, HIV levels rose in one of them.
“In this case, the actor and production company thought he was HIV-negative during filming,” the California Department of Public Health said in a statement Monday. “Shortly after his negative test, HIV levels in his body rose rapidly to where he could infect other actors through unprotected sex.”
The states of Nevada and California do not require porn actors to be tested for HIV, and while the industry standard is to screen for the disease, the test they were using doesn’t detect the virus as early as ones used where protocol is tighter.
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“Not only did this leave those who participated at risk, it made it much harder to track scene partners once the possible infection was discovered,” The Free Speech Coalition, a California-based trade group for the adult film industry said in a statement.
This is the last confirmed on-set HIV infection since 2004, after which the porn industry adopted a monthly screening standard for STI’s. They began testing every 14 days after a porn actress contracted HIV off-set last year.
via SF Gate
Stache99
I believe they used the standard test and shot the day after. There’s still a window period though. The PCR test is the best but more expensive.
aliengod
These fools have unprotected sex for money and people act shocked that they wind up with HIV. How hard is it to put on a condom?
Stache99
According to the LA times the Screening company Screening Services, FSC-PASS, the unnamed studio was not compliant with PASS testing protocols.
tdx3fan
Isn’t Sean Cody or Corbin Fisher based in Las Vegas? Is it that much of a stretch to assume it is one of them? I actually agree with aliengod here… they took the risk for the lure of whatever cash was thrown their way, and they should have known better….
Unfortunately, its not that black or white in a world where most of these stars are past or current victims of abuse and neglect and turned to drugs as a way to cope. Sure, that is not the case for everyone, but its happened enough that those that buck the trend are more the exception than the rule.
barkomatic
@aliengod: Calm down. As the article states, it’s the first confirmed on set infection since 2004 and it was apparently because of lax testing standards. I love how self righteous guys get yet watch porn at home all the time.
1898
How is it possible in 2014 that bareback porn actors aren’t all on PrEP? Or has that too become as unfashionable as condoms?
jwtraveler
@barkomatic: The first “confirmed” case. Does that mean it’s the first case that was publicized to the media? Could there be others that are hidden and, not publicized and “unconfirmed”.@aliengod: It’s not about how hard it is to put on a condom; it’s about how hard some men get watching porn actors infect each other with life-threatening diseases. Risking infection is erotic. “Death is the ultimate aphrodisiac.”
Stache99
@jwtraveler: It’s not about risk or any fetish for it. If they had followed proper protocol none of this would’ve happened.
The straight porn industry in LA has done this for decades before the condom requirement law. It was near perfect but you have to have a good system.
The problem is all you have now is dumb kids plus greedy studios now.
jwtraveler
@barkomatic: There’s nothing self-righteous about encouraging people to value their own lives and take responsibility for protecting themselves.
Chris
How very sad. Having lost too many friends to HIV, I can feel only sympathy and sorrow for these two men, regardless how they got infected.
Whatever they got for the shoot, they’ll spend that and more for a lifetime of treatment and medications.
SportGuy
Still don’t understand what is so hard about using condoms. No amount of money is worth putting your life at risk.
Billy Budd
I love porn and I think porn is essential for humanity. I think many pornstars are troubled guys/girls, but the profession should lose its stigma and become accepted and respected by society.
.
The companies should use the latest available technology and set standards to ensure safety for the actors.
Xzamilio
@Billy Budd: And people “should” look both ways before crossing the street. A lot of “shoulds” in there, but that’s just useless talk, now isn’t it? Because we know where there’s a corner to be cut, industries will cut it to save money. These amoral corporations care about the bottom line and top dollar earnings, not the tops and bottoms getting that for them.
o.codone
@jwtraveler: “Death is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” YES … it is. (breatheless).
jwtraveler
@Stache99: If they had used condoms, none of this would’ve happened. It’s absurd to compare gay porn to straight porn when it comes to preventing HIV infection. The rate of HIV infection among gay men is many times greater than among straight people, and probably even higher in porn. And using other people’s irresponsible behavior as an excuse for your own is just….well….stupid!
And when you see porn films with man after man pumping load after load into another’s rectum, what else is it but a fetish for risk of death?
Stache99
@jwtraveler: I was referring more to their system. An alliance of places like AIM and the studios. It really worked. Of coarse it was expensive too.
Barebacking is reality. Demand for it isn’t going to change anytime soon either. I’d rather make use of prevention strategies that deal with that then shame which isn’t going to change anything. Certain protocols which means you don’t work till you’re in the clear determined by set rules.
Bromancer7
@jwtraveler: Actually the rate of STI infection, including HIV, is ridiculously low in porn actors due to rigorous testing and PrEP use.
But since that doesn’t fit your asinine puritanical douchebag narrative I guess you never bothered to do your homework before flapping your gums like an idiot.
jwtraveler
@Bromancer7: Well aren’t you just a delightful human being? Thank you for lifting the civil and intellectual level of this discussion to the level of adolescent name-calling. You’re really a class act.
vive
@jwtraveler, actually bromancer is correct that the risk of hiv infection is very low in studios that test properly and use PrEP. We aren’t talking about the hardcore HIV fetish porn here.
And condom porn just isn’t sexy, unfortunately.
QJ201
Sean Cody, Corbin Fisher, etc, etc
NOT a “big porn company” but one of the web based porn companies. The only company I hear that demands actors be on PrEP is Lucas Entertainment which has gone whole hog bareback cumpig raw since PrEP.
lykeitiz
@Stache99: If they had followed proper protocol none of this would have happened? Really?? Because testing is prevention?
@Bromancer7: STI & HIV are low in porn actors? Really? If that statement weren’t so dangerous it would be funny. You can’t change statistical facts, nor can you back up that ridiculous claim.
I understand people wanting to believe in the unproven long-term effects of PrEP, but lying about the risks of porn won’t change anything.
1898
Revising my previous comment… is it possible that one or both of these actors WERE on PrEP but became infected anyway? Nothing is 100% after all…
seaguy
@SportGuy: Not hard to understand condoms take away much of the feeling for some gay men, during porn shoots they also can cause the bottom to be unable to finish the whole shoot because of the friction and resulting pain condoms can cause. Bareback porn sells way better than condom, because porn is fantasy and people want to watch bareback because it is hotter.
seaguy
@1898: Nothing is 100% but the odds of them having been on PrEP and still contracting HIV are so miniscule that you either have to be a fool to think that is possible, or your one of Michael Weinsteins minions trying to spread lies, rumors and misinformation about PrEP.
seaguy
Those of you wh are thinking that the actors may have been on PrEP I have a a bridge in Brooklyn I would love to sell you. Cause to think that was the case you either have to be a fool or one who enjoys bad odds because based on what science there is the chances of them contracting HIV while on PrEP are in the single digit percentages.
Or you are an anti PrEP person and it is pathetic that you’re using this to further your twisted and misguided agenda and you should be ashamed of yourself.
1898
@seaguy: Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m not trying to spread anything, I’m no one’s minion, and I’d like to believe I’m not a fool. I was simply asking a question. Want to try answering my question again, this time without the unprovoked personal attack?
Stache99
@1898: Your question would be the same as asking if they were using condoms when they were infected. I believe the statistics are comparable.
I don’t think they were though. Otherwise, they would’ve mentioned it.
barkomatic
@Chris: Don’t feel too badly. This isn’t 1980, and it’s probable that with treatment these guys wIl live out normal lives. That’s not to say guys shouldn’t be careful and try to avoid catching HIV mind you–just that it’s not the tragedy it once was. Their porn careers are done though.
DCFarmboi
the filming company should be named.
1898
The reason why I asked about PrEP — and I have no agenda on this issue, by the way — is because the efficacy depends highly on the user taking the drug exactly as prescribed. If the user frequently forgets to take it, or chooses to skip doses for whatever reason (e.g. bothersome side effects, they ran out of it and forgot to get it refilled, etc), the efficacy is significantly lower than what it normally would be — based on what I’ve read on the subject (and I’m happy to be corrected if I’m wrong).
If a porn studio is relying on PrEP to keep their employees safe, my next question would be “OK, are you making sure that they’re taking it correctly? Do you observe them taking their dose every day, or do you just trust them to do so?”
1898
And if these guys were NOT on PrEP, I must ask again: WHY NOT?
The idea that bareback porn actors are not on PrEP is appalling to me. Hence my surprise that I’m being labeled as an anti-PrEP minion of some kind…
tardis
@barkomatic: Dude, HIV, still is a nasty disease.
Stache99
@tardis: I don’t think that’s what he said at all dude.
onthemark
@1898: Very good point. And I don’t get why anyone would assume you’re “anti-PrEP” just for asking the question. PrEP is more appropriate in certain situations and porn seems like one of them – duh.
Kangol
Why no PrEP?
jason smeds
Having sex is not the problem. Promiscuity is the problem, not the sex. Sex is a great act. It’s how you have sex that is the key.
If you have sex in a promiscuous fashion, don’t be surprised when you finally catch an STD.
As for porn, it’s not about sex. It’s prostitution. Prostitution combined with promiscuity is a recipe for catching STD’s. Simple.
Clark35
@Aliengod: Exactly.
I agree with Jason Smeds, the majority of people in porn both male and female are prostitutes and that’s how most people in porn make the majority of their cash from being a prostitute, not from doing porn in front of a camera.
PrEP is not foolproof, and people who are taking the meds can and do get infected. Condoms are more effective.
Rob Moore
@tdx3fan: You know these performers are victims of abuse. How is that? I would be interested in knowing how you know this information. I don’t think that is true if it ever was.
da90027
I find it really HYPOCRITICAL when porn is blamed for HIV when in ten years there have THREE FRIGGIN cases due to filming. I bet Manhunt and Adam4adam are responsible for 250,000 cases of HIV but I don’t see anyone clamoring to shut down those sites…WHAT BULLSHIT…so damn hypocritical and ridiculous to create all this hoopla over three cases in ten years. That’s hardly an epidemic. Porn actors are tested more often than any of those online or app sluts hooking up daily on those sites.
crotchshaver
@barkomatic: Their porn careers are done though.
Absolutely not. Some porn studios like Raw Fuck Club use only HIV+ models and others like Treasure Island Media, Hot Desert Knights and Lucas Entertainment sero-sort the models so that HIV- performers are paired only with other HIV- guys, and HIV+ models only do scenes with other HIV+ guys.
Especially since neither the models nor the studio has been named, the guys are completely anonymous and working in scenes for studios that sero-sort won’t have the stigma that being publicly identified as HIV+ does.
crotchshaver
@1898: “The reason why I asked about PrEP … is because the efficacy depends highly on the user taking the drug exactly as prescribed. If the user frequently forgets to take it, or chooses to skip doses for whatever reason (e.g. bothersome side effects, they ran out of it and forgot to get it refilled, etc), the efficacy is significantly lower than what it normally would be. …”
That’s correct and was confirmed by the clinical trials where HIV negative people took Truvada before the CDC recommended them for preventive therapy. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/prevention/research/prep/
@1898: “If a porn studio is relying on PrEP to keep their employees safe, my next question would be “OK, are you making sure that they’re taking it correctly? Do you observe them taking their dose every day, or do you just trust them to do so?”
That’s not necessary as you can see from the clinical trials the CDC used to set PrEP guidelines. The test subjects’ blood was tested not only for HIV, but also for the level of Truvada in their system with the same bloodwork. So studios can easily see whether a model has an adequate level of Truvada in his/her blood at the same time the blood is tested for HIV.
crotchshaver
@1898: “The reason why I asked about PrEP … is because the efficacy depends highly on the user taking the drug exactly as prescribed. If the user frequently forgets to take it, or chooses to skip doses for whatever reason (e.g. bothersome side effects, they ran out of it and forgot to get it refilled, etc), the efficacy is significantly lower than what it normally would be. …”
That’s absolutely correct and was confirmed by the clinical trials where HIV negative people took Truvada before the CDC recommended Truvada for preventive therapy. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/prevention/research/prep/
@1898: “If a porn studio is relying on PrEP to keep their employees safe, my next question would be ‘OK, are you making sure that they’re taking it correctly? Do you observe them taking their dose every day, or do you just trust them to do so?’ ”
That’s not necessary as you can see from the clinical trials the CDC used to set PrEP guidelines. The test subjects’ blood was tested not only for HIV, but also for the level of Truvada in their system using the same bloodwork. So studios can easily see whether a model has an adequate level of Truvada in his/her blood at the same time the blood is tested for HIV prior to a shoot.
crotchshaver
@tdx3fan: “Isn’t Sean Cody or Corbin Fisher based in Las Vegas? Is it that much of a stretch to assume it is one of them? ”
Yes, it is a stretch. Just because the shoot took place in Vegas doesn’t mean the studio is based there. Because of Nevada’s lax regulations on filming, permits aren’t required for shoots on private property such as hotel rooms. So a fly-by-night studio based anywhere can rent a room in Vegas at a big discount on a slow weekend when supply far exceeds hotel demand. Ditto on the cost of airfare to Vegas at slow times when planes fly half full.
And I can tell you from browsing a lot of porn and noticing the backgrounds that almost all the cheap, web-only studios shoot their scenes exclusively in hotel rooms, because they don’t have the overhead of maintaining sets in a leased studio or warehouse.
The websites that cut corners by shooting in hotel rooms like this are exactly the same ones that try to save money by not testing their models for HIV and STI, or using cheap, ineffective tests as it appears was done here.
BTW, Sean Cody is based in San Diego, and the Wikipedia entry on Corbin Fisher cites published articles that in 2008, CF “offered scholarships and 401(k) plans to actors who signed exclusive contracts with the company.[8] Health benefits offered included medical, dental, vision and life insurance coverage.[9]” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corbin_Fisher
sls1600
The infected were not only two are many more I was one of them and my ex is one of the actors. I do not understand why the state of Las Vegas has not done anything to that company and they continue to do more movies.????????