Attorney General Pressed to Investigate Porn Clinic

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is asking California attorney general Kamala Harris to investigate possible unlawful conduct by a medical clinic where many adult-film actors are tested for sexually transmitted infections.

The Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation in Sherman Oaks, Calif., was closed by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health December 9 after the clinic's application for a license to operate as a community clinic was rejected by the state. The clinic has been in operation since 1998. Several actors have been diagnosed with HIV at the clinic, including, most recently Derrick Burts, whose diagnosis led to a voluntary halt in production at several studios for a month last fall.

Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said in a statement Monday that the clinic has served mostly as "a ploy to deflect needed public scrutiny and responsible government regulation."

In a letter sent to Harris Friday, Weinstein wrote, “In short, the principals of AIM seem to be operating in a manner that serves their financial interests, rather than any public benefit mission. I ask that your office open an investigation into the foregoing to ensure that the public is protected, and take whatever steps may be necessary to end any unlawful conduct by AIM.”