OP/ED by XXXMed
After reading the No On B response to the latest STD study it is obvious that nobody actually took the time to read the study.
First, this is a new study, it has never been published before. Mr. Lee also states in his press release that the name of the clinic is not even in the report. Again, completely false, it is on the first page. Mr. Lee then attacks the scientific methods of gathering information, again referring to an old study that has nothing to do with this study. This study used the widely accepted method of ‘consecutive sampling, which meant that every person who fits the criteria of the study is allowed to participate. The criteria to be in this study was to have worked in the adult industry within the last 12 months, and the breakdown is written right there in the report, something that obviously nobody at No On B bothered to read. Mr Lee then again makes reference to an old study, in which he claimed that members of the general public, and people taking their first tests to get into the industry were included. The vast majority used in this study had more than two years in the industry, and about 25% of them had 8+ years in the adult film industry. Each participant filled out an extensive questionnaire, which also showed some interesting findings. One being that out of the 168 participants, only 8 said they always use condoms off set, and 38 said they never use condoms off set, the rest said they sometimes use them.
Forty seven of the 168 participants tested positive(28%) and of those 47, 30 were female and 17 male. Among the 30 positive females, 25 of them were positive in more than one anatomical site, 18 of them testing positive in the oral, rectal, and vaginal anatomical sites. It is noted that if they had been tested using only the industry standard test, 60% of all the infections, male and female, would have been missed, and that is happening right now with the current, inadequate industry testing every single day.
In his criticism of what he thought was this study, Mr.Lee chastises that report because it contained first time testers, and members of the general public, then in the same paragraph appears to say that this isn’t valid because it doesn’t include everyone who tested at the facility, again which he wrongly assumes is AIM. There is no confusion in this study, it is all active working performers in the adult industry. It was also noted that 90% of the females who tested positive rectally and orally, were showing no sign or symptoms of infection in the those areas. It was also surprising to see that the majority of infections were gonorrhea in the rectal and oral cavities.
For so long performers have been told that they are safer because of the testing , but the lack of oral and rectal testing is surely leading to a false sense of security. To every single female performer, go and get tested now, right now, and have them swab your throat and rectum. You can have this disease for a long time and not know it.
James Lee is repeating the industry line about being tested and therefore being safe. Actually, the testing program, if the industry would ever bother to share the results with the performers is proof of how unsafe the industry is. You can say "we are the most tested workforce in the world" but when you refuse to divulge the results of those tests, well, that speaks for itself.
Either Mr. Lee is being dishonest, or he simply didn’t read the report. If he is willing to say such blatantly false, and easily refutable things like, ‘they don’t even name the clinic'(its on the first page), it included first time testers and members of the general public(it only used currently active performers), and that this study lacked scientific methodologies(they are completely explained right in the report, under Methods,on the first page), then what else do you think he may be less than honest about?
And you will take note that James Lee has never used the words Hepatitis C, or HPV. I wonder if APHSS is going to adopt throat and rectal testing after seeing this report? Performers, especially female performers should demand it, and if they refuse to make it part of the monthly testing, then do it yourself, and when you get on set demand to see the oral and rectal tests, after all, its your choice. The industry claims to have mandatory testing, it’s just they don’t want you to do too much testing, that would be bad for business, and cut into profits.
This study used widely accepted scientific methods, and was designed to look specifically at members of the adult industry, so there was no confusion about a mixture of other data. Mr Lee also states "is not a scientifically valid study since there is no representative control baseline study." Of course he was referring to a different study that had nothing to do with this one. Again, completely false, and it is right in the report, read it for yourself Mr. Lee. I find it funny that nobody at FSC even noticed one of the names on the top of the very first page, Dr. Robert Rigg, which begs another question, why are so many performers, veteran performers, going to Dr. Rigg when they have stds? Is it so they can get tested and treated, but keep right on working with their clean AIM test? I wonder if James Lee even knows about West Oaks Urgent Care, and its relationship with the industry? Obviously not, but can you blame him? He gets his information from the FSC.
Ladies PLEASE, make the right choice and get completely tested. When you go to the gas station you don’t just check the air pressure in one tire and then say everything is ok do you? So why would you not test for these stds in the throat and rectum? With all of the oral and anal sex it makes no sense, to not have these areas tested, choose common sense and protect yourself, don’t count on James Lee or the FSC to look out for you, they are looking out for the producers, and their own pocketbooks. To them you are disposable, and easily replaced. Producers fund the FSC. Producers are the first and foremost concern for the FSC, and rightfully so, that is where their money comes from. There is nobody, except yourself, in this industry who has your best interest first and foremost, nobody!!!
Read it for yourself, and don’t rely on a hired political gun who was hired to protect the interest of the producers.
http://www.aidshealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/OLQ201418_1.pdf
It’s amusing to read the toned down rantings of Mr. Joe Know.
Love n kisses,
Jerry Stool (a very tall midget)
I and my associate Tom Hymes read the study, and several of XXXMed’s “points” are bogus. For instance, he claims that the clinic from whom the study subjects were drawn is revealed on the report’s first page. That’s correct only if you ALREADY KNOW that the subjects were drawn from Dr. Rigg’s clinic, because while that clinic is named in a footnote on page 1, it is AIM that is referenced by name in the text of the study, which might fool some readers into thinking the subjects were from AIM. In fact the name of the clinic is never revealed in the text of the study, and no connection is made there between the name of Rigg’s clinic and the study subjects.
Another study flaw is that 30% of the subjects had not appeared in an adult film within the previous 30 days, so who knows where they picked up their diseases–if they had them at all, since only 28% of the subjects tested positive for ANY disease.
Anyway, there’s lots more in AVN’s review of this study, which can be found here:
http://business.avn.com/articles/video/About-That-So-Called-Study-on-Adult-Performer-STDs-493251.html
One thing that XXXMed is correct about is that despite the claim made in James Lee’s otherwise fairly accurate press release, Dr. Mayer’s study didn’t deal with the same statistics used by the Rodriguez-Hart et al study. Rather, Dr. Mayer’s report was a criticism of Powerpoint presentations given by Drs. Kerndt and Robert Kim-Farley during public hearings on AHF’s petition to CalOSHA to force it to inspect porn sets and fine any producers who didn’t make performers use condoms.
My analysis of Dr. Mayer’s report is here:
http://business.avn.com/articles/video/Doctor-s-Report-Blasts-Health-Department-s-STD-Statistics-437880.html
Cany ANYONE, including you kernes, or uncle peg or anyone else point me to one single study that refutes all of these different studies you keep calling erroneous?
If AVN/The rest of you whiners is so sure its wrong why dont YOU GUYS commission a study?
Could it be because you know what the results will be?
Thanks for coming here once again to spread the political message of your masters at AHF, Mike. And in a comment to a post written by a former AHF consultant, to boot.
There has not been a single independent study. Period. Even the FSC-commissioned study by Lawrence S. Mayer MD, MS, PhD of Johns Hopkins, from 2011, is not independent — but it does apply CDC methodologies to detail the blatant bias and massive bio-statistical shortcomings of the existing interpolated data.
As for commissioning a new study, as Mark Kernes writes here on LIB, it’s not up to the adult industry or its supporters “to prove that those infections happened OFF the set; it’s the study’s obligation to prove they happened ON the set if they plan to use the study to claim that industry testing is to blame — as they clearly want to do!”
OK yall read Uncle Pegs reply and pay attention
That is why you will be seeing condoms in porn, he is just plain too stupid to get it.
carry on….
That’s right – an old misanthrope in Georgia who can’t even spell “y’all” correctly (and who still contends that AIM made a $90 profit on a $110 / 120 test) has all the answers about the L.A. porn industry.
What the hillbilly Phony Libertarian does’t seem to grasp is that we Americans have certain inalienable rights and liberties by default. Those defending their rights against an attack need not convince anyone of anything. The legal BURDEN is on those trying to infringe upon those rights to establish the requisite state interest.
Every issue, every controversy of public consequence, is a balancing act in which the pro’s and con’s must be weighed. Competing interests must be balanced.
However Michael Weinstein is an authoritarian with an absolutely totalitarian worldview. To him there are no competing interests — you can hear it in his rhetoric: this is “simply” a matter of workplace safety, or public health, or whatever. He will not deign to consider any arguments about counterbalancing, and he brooks no dissent.
When it comes to people’s rights, to constitutionally protected liberties – he doesn’t wanna hear about it. The first amendment, and the liberties protected under Lawrence v. Texas, DO NOT MATTER to him — he doesn’t even think they’re part of the calculus. Weinstein is totally single-minded — as all authoritarians and fascist dictators are. He TELLS US what the problem is, and he prescribes the solution by decree.
And stooges like Mike South HAND THE WEINSTEINS OF THE WORLD THE ARGUMENT.
1) In order for the government to act, to restrict people’s CONSTITUTIONALLY GUARANTEED AND PROTECTED rights and liberties, the government must demonstrate a state interest.
2) The government ONLY has an interest in things it can PROVE.
It is essential to understand these two points.
AHF is attempting to use workplace safety laws as the means to attack the adult industry, and to infringe upon the rights of performers and producers, but AHF clearly lacks a clear understanding of how these rules work as a matter of law.
If a performer who its a sexually active person has contracted a common STI such chlamydia, gonorrhea, HPV or herpes, there is NO WAY to prove that it was contracted on set. These infections are comparable to the flu. Only rare infections, things such as the HIV virus, can be traced to a patient zero.
In the end, all that this new study shows is that, x number of performers sought testing / treatment over that 4-month period. The data does NOT show what IF ANY number of performers WORKED while infected, or contracted an STI while AT WORK. The authors ask voters to ASSUME that these infections may all be traced to workplace exposures — and the fact that AHF and the authors of this study have made the comparison to STI rates among Nevada brothel workers is also instructive.
Nevada brothel workers often live on the premises and, per the house rules, are prohibited from having sex outside the prostitute/client relationship. In this regard they represent a separate and distinct population from the surrounding general population, much like the incarcerated, or military personnel confined to a base.
Adult performers, by contrast, are not a population separate and distinct from the rest of the population. Performers are a SUBSET of the general population. LA County performers are members of the population of LA County. They interact with the rest of the population, as well as with each other, off set.
Regardless of one’s profession, NO test can demonstrate that a common infection was contracted by a sexually active adult at work. Correlation does not equal causation. If the government cannot prove that work was the cause, it lacks the requisite state interest to ban an entire type of work.
As Michael Whiteacre said, “There has not been a single independent study. Period.” The same is true with vaccination studies, etc, etc, etc, etc. There has never been a study on vaccines, their efficacy and safety by any party that does not benefit financially from the sale of vaccines, for example. If someone commissions a study based on a pre-existing slant, then one can ask the types of questions and find the right answers they’re looking for. Look at the Bush appointed 9/11 commission with it’s “failure of imagination” conclusion. No surprise Cheney wasn’t arrested for military stand-down orders, as Secretary Mineta testified. We have to stop being hypnotized and awed into blind obedience by those who call themselves authorites, because authorities are just authors.
Again, condoms are a dumb-con. Continuous use for long periods, as would be required in a porn scene, is highly problematic, not to mention kills the thrill. Rubbers are made of over 100 synthetic toxins, cause rashes, tears in skin, etc. One can go on and on about it, but Fuhrer Weinstein never had an open forum about it. He’s a puppet of the Big Pharm and AIDS industries pushing fear and rubbers for profit.