YNOT – Adult industry trade association Free Speech Coalition is warning performers in Los Angeles County to be suspicious of what the association deems intrusive and potentially unlawful demands from representatives of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
According to a statement FSC distributed late Wednesday, on at least one occasion LACDPH agents appeared at the home of an adult industry performer and demanded the model immediately provide a blood sample. Models who engage in sexually explicit activities on film are accustomed to monthly blood tests in order to certify they are free of sexually transmitted diseases, but most often those tests are performed by organizations like AIM Medical Associates PC (formerly Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation), which adhere to a testing protocol voluntary adopted as a “best practices” standard by the adult entertainment industry. The majority of porn studios require certification of health status before allowing performers to work.
FSC representatives indicated they are perplexed and outraged by LACDPH’s “shocking intrusion into fundamental civil rights,” because the anonymous performer said the health department agents offered no court order or other lawful justification for their demand. The performer declined to comply, FSC Executive Director Diane Duke told YNOT.com.
“Although the Free Speech Coalition cannot provide legal advice, we urge any person to seek legal counsel before consenting to such lawless violations of medical privacy and Fourth Amendment rights,” the organization advised in a prepared statement.
This is not the first time that the L.A. County Department of Public Health reportedly has acted as if it had legal authority for an action, when in reality it had none, according to FSC Chairman and attorney Jeffrey Douglas. In another incident, agents reportedly claimed to have authority from the U.S. Justice Department to seize 2257 records. Such authority has not been documented and is almost certainly false, he said.
“You are not a serf living under the whims and dictates of a feudal Los Angeles County Department of Public Health,” Douglas averred. “You can and should ask for a written list of any demand and the authority for those demands. Know your rights and protect yourself.”
The LACDPH did not respond to a request for comment, but the agency has devoted increased scrutiny to the adult entertainment industry since last last year, when the State of California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health began hearings about whether to require condoms and other forms of “barrier protection” on adult movie sets. In addition, the LACDPH played a role in the December closure of AIM’s Los Angeles public health clinic, which reopened earlier this year after resolving state licensing issues.
Most recently, the department began an investigation at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles after 200 people who attended a party at Hugh Hefner’s infamous bachelor pad became ill with flu-like symptoms caused by the bacteria responsible for a mild form of Legionnaire’s Disease.
