Porn industry health clinic shut down by L.A. County health officials [Updated]

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials have shut down the San Fernando Valley-based health clinic that serves the porn industry.

[Updated at 11:42 a.m.: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said the clinic was based in San Fernando. It is in Sherman Oaks.]

“We’ve told the clinic they have to notify people of test results that have already been taken and make appropriate referrals. But they cannot provide new services,” said Dr. Jonathan Fielding, the county’s public health director.

Fielding said county public health staff went to the clinic Thursday morning and issued a cease-and-desist order based upon state regulator’s denial of the clinic’s application for a community clinic license.

Adult Industry Medical healthcare’s general manager and lawyers did not return phone calls Thursday. AIM staff answering the phone Thursday morning said the clinic was still open.

Clinic officials were notified that their license application had been denied Tuesday. They applied June 7, state officials said, but Fielding said the application was “incomplete.”

“They hadn’t done all the things necessary to comply,” he said, but would not elaborate and referred questions to state public health officials, who did not immediately return phone calls or e-mail Thursday.

The nonprofit AIM clinic opened in 1998. Fielding said county public health officials did not become aware that they were operating without a license until April. In May, he said they sent clinic officials a letter advising them that as a nonprofit, they could not operate under an affiliated physician’s license and needed to apply instead for a clinic license.

Fielding said former patients at the clinic are welcome to seek care at county clinics.

“We have on our website a number of places where people can go for testing,” he said. “All the places that we’re involved with are certainly places where people can feel safe -- the privacy and confidentiality are maintained.”

Porn producers had relied on the clinic to maintain a database of performers’ test results that they could check prior to filming. It was unclear what would become of that system.

“I don’t know the answer to that -- you’ll have to ask them. Our feeling has been that that is not sufficient to fully protect the performers,” Fielding said. “They need to use condoms so that these workers will not be put in a position where they are exposed to potentially life-threatening diseases.”

RELATED:

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HIV-positive porn actor was told: 'You're not going to make any money if you wear a condom'

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske

Photo: Pedestrians are reflected in the front door of the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation. The Sherman Oaks clinic was shut down by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials. Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[T. Davis]

Porn should be outlawed completely. Who needs it. The people who watch are sicker than the ones who do it.

[Ryan]

Larry, would you pay an UNLICENSED contractor to add a 3rd story to your house? Probably not!!!

[Joseph Williams Walden Jr.]

How about doing a real community service and shut down the porn industries, all porn have ever created is a growing mass of serial rapist, child molesters, and murderers who are inspired/idolized by the videos.

[jane allen]

porn isnt a legitimate business. its for sick and twisted people who were (more often than not) molested and have no sexual boundaries and usually have drug problems to cover up the pain. if this clinic was perpetuating an illegitimate business then maybe its good it was shut down and not made into a viable business venture. dont get me wrong, porn is there and will always be around. its just that as an "industry" come on, its not legitimate nor should it be made mainstream. only my opinion. I understand some people will take offense if working in this type of profession. good luck with that BS that is ruining our country.

[Steve]

@Julie Meadows, I <3 you! Have for a long time.
Besides that, this place needs to stay open! It's a shame that they want spread this sick disease more. AIM actually did good for SFV. Who do we contact to contest?

[MarissaW]

This is an unfortunate case of the state's personal agenda impeding on serving with the public's interest at heart. I understand that the government wants to regulate this industry more closely, but requiring reform of procedural operations instead of shutting down the clinic would have been a more beneficial route to take.
Being as though this clinic has been in practice since 1998 without prior major mishaps shows that this was a functional and efficient office, that in all actuality, benefited an ENTIRE multi-million dollar industry. It kept tabs on the state of health of these performers/workers and REQUIRED that they be tested for all sexually transmitted infections & diseases. Being that California is in the top 5 states with the highest reported HIV/AIDS infections, this clinic contributed in the control of this disease.
The state definitely made a mistake here, and clearly does not have any intentions of providing an alternative solution of the same or higher quality.

[CessnaDriver]

AIM doesn't control what porn is produced: they provide testing and certification as a service.

Shutting them down because the system worked?

WTF?

Condoms won't actually help that much, the actors still need to be tested.

Epic fail of logic.

[David A Toluca Lake]

Place is run by Sharon Mitchell, who claims she is a "doctor" by getting a diploma mill certificate.

Medicine is no joke, and its about time this place was held to a higher standard.

[Maxine Doogan]

So how is closing the place where STD testing takes place going to force workers to wear condoms on their job?
Why is the public health closing a place where STD testing takes place?
I don't get it.
There must be more to this story.

[anonymous]

Whether or not you agree with the porn industry (the production, the talents' personal choices, etc.), AIM regulated STD and HIV testing for performers, allowed access to results to be shared amongst performers and producers while still maintaining confidentiality, and were responsible and fast-acting during any sort of outbreak. If Los Angeles has allowed the industry to legally produce porn in the county, they should acknowledge the benefits of maintaining a health care facility specializing in the proper 'upkeep' of such a controversial industry. AIM is/was not doing anything wrong and I personally think that they are very much needed in the porn community.

On another note, have you ever thought about all of those people that like to go out to the bars/clubs, party, and sleep around without ever getting tested? These performers may be highly controversial, but at least they are tested regularly and (most!) are making an effort to help stop the transmission of diseases.

The industry needs this clinic to help hold it all together.

[Vic Fera]

There is no freedom in porn, only bondage and slavery. Why would anyone wants the headache of going to a clinic once a month to get tested? Isn't that scary? Why would you want to do that? Why would you want to die for sex? You are all enslaved but just don't see it.

[A Scanner Darkly]

@Christine Beatty: A lot of NASCAR fans are going to be upset to find out stock car racing is gay.

[BillN]

what a stupid knee jerk reaction!
if you want to shut something down, shut the illegal production of homemade porn which too often involve the drugging and rape of the people being sexed. shut that down first.

[mike]

@ Christine Beatty

How do you know the action was taken by a conservative? A vast majority of local government in LA and California is liberal/democrat.

[Jim Q. Citizen]

In the porn industry condoms are out even in homosexual productions. HIV disease is considered manageable and people are now placing profits before principles. Never-mind that other more deadly diseases are lurking in the darkness to pick up where HIV left-off. No matter how good modern medicine gets or as sexually adventurous people become there will be no escape from the rules that appear in the Word of God. There are a million ways to commit suicide and God has given each of us free-will.

[common sense]

Has anyone stopped to consider that making porn is immoral, (it is not a victimless crime - just ask any spouse of a man addicted to porn if she has ever felt objectified, made to act out "porn like sex acts" without really wanting to because she felt pressured by her porn addicted husband or a countless number of other examples I could give where a person unrelated to the porn is truly hurt), and that perhaps if these performers are faced with the fact that HIV is a real risk to this activity, the porn industry might be significantly curtailed? (it will never go completely out of business but hopefully it can be relegated to a niche market and not be so readily available thereby ensnaring other addicts just like big tobacco).

[Donald from Hawaii]

All these self-annointed conservative moralists rejoicing over the shut-down of AIM Healthcare Foundation best realize that the State of Utah is the biggest per capita consumer of online adult entertainment in the United States. Therefore, one could rightly note that the porn industry meets the consumer demands of sanctimonious right-wing hypocrites, who condemn in public a profession that they patronize in private when they think nobody's looking.

[colinsfriend]

When are people going to realize HIV testing does NOT prevent AIDS, NOR does it prevent the spread of AIDS until it is detected and people contacted. This can take months after the initial infection. In the meantime MONTHS of people have been infected. It is NOT a vaccine people, it is a test to see if you are ALREADY infected. Getting a negative test means right now, as far as we can tell, you are clear, doesn't mean it's not there and doesn't mean 1 second from now you won't be infected. It is a false security blanket. It is a false security promoted by an industry that profits from your ignorance and your death is just collateral damage. They don't have to even pay for your SSI and meds. They reap the profit and move on, with new victims.

[ILoveCA]

"Porn producers had relied on the clinic to maintain a database of performers’ test results that they could check prior to filming." I may not agree with the life-style, but aren't patients protected under the HIPAA Compliance Act? If this "clinic" was giving out patient information without the patients knowledge, they could certainly be shut down.

[Lorelei Mission]

Hi to "I Love LA", thank you for adding your question. The point of the clinic is so that people who WANT their good results accessible to others, can have their results given out. See earlier comment about government clinics, they do not have a way to officially share results so those results can be faked. So a main idea of this special clinic was you go there because you want all your co-workers and friends to be able to confirm that you have good test results. Heck, I think this sort of thing would be a good option for the general public, not just for performers. Wouldn't it be nice if you could ask your new boyfriend or girlfriend if they have proof of good tests? It is an option that our culture should encourage.

[Lorelei Mission]

Thank you Jim Townes for your input. But note that this country allows 18 year olds to join the military, making their own decision to pick a career where people are at greater risk of dying on the job. So... having states where 18 year olds can't buy alcohol, or have sex in movies, or do specific other things that older adults do, doesn't really make sense. (Unless our culture were to all get on the same page and agree that a 18, 19, 20-year-olds are too young to be offered military jobs where they might die...)

[sakara]

AIM always was a joke...? Just a con job to make sleazy porn business look professional?