Agency Investigates Porn Industry Clinic

A clinic funded by the adult-film industry routinely releases the results of sexually transmitted disease testing to film producers in violation of patients' privacy rights, according to charges raised by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

Federal officials are investigating AHF's complaints regarding the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation, said a spokesperson from the regional civil rights office of the Department of Health and Human Services in San Francisco.

AHF has long advocated for condom use and increased testing among actors in adult films. It says the San Fernando clinic requires patients to sign an "overbroad, irrevocable" consent form that allows disclosure of test results to "whomever [the clinic] deems appropriate, in perpetuity" as a condition of testing.

"If some performers are OK with it, that's fine," said AHF attorney Tom Myers. But by law, Myers noted, the disclosure must include information on who is authorized to receive the information, for what purpose and the period covered by the consent.

The clinic makes test results available to adult-film producers while blocking release of test data to state workplace officials, an AHF official said earlier this year.

In March the AHF persuaded state health officials to create an advisory panel to consider more protection for performers, including mandating condom use. The panel's first meeting is set for June 29.