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| Sunday, 18 April 2004 |
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HIV infection scare hits Los Angeles porn actors LOS ANGELES, April 16 (Reuters) Worried adult film actors crowded into the industry's health clinic in Los Angeles for HIV testing on Friday as word spread that two performers tested positive this week. Despite the outbreak and pleas by advocates for a 60-day moratorium while testing continues on 47 quarantined actors, it appeared that about half of the city's pornographic film production houses will ignore the warnings. "This business doesn't shut down on Christmas. Why is it going to shut down for two isolated HIV infections?" asked Dr. Elizabeth Mitchell of the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare (AIM) Foundation in Los Angeles. Actor Darren James tested positive for HIV on Monday in screening conducted routinely on the industry's 1,200 regular actors. Newcomer Lara Roxx, 21, who did a sex scene with James and another actor on March 22, tested positive on Thursday. Mitchell said she had circulated the names of 65 individuals whom she was told had contact with the infected actors, urging producers not to put them to work until June 8 while their health is monitored. She dropped 18 performers from the list, however, after learning that their productions took place before James was infected. Mitchell lamented that many producers will continue to film scenes without condoms. James, the first porn actor to test positive for the virus since 1999, had a "stellar record" of tests - negative every three weeks for the past seven years, she said. Mitchell said James may have contracted the virus about four weeks ago while filming in Brazil on a "non-condom" set. Roxx's agent said he tried to discourage her from going to Los Angeles, where the industry is based. The Montreal native had done small roles in two films and had a lot to learn. "She was not completely ready," said Daniel Perreault of Eromodel Group of Montreal. "I said, 'Wait and I will take care of you when it is time.'" But the young woman, who saw in the porn industry a way to become a movie star, stubbornly ignored his warnings. |
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