In what appears to be a growing epidemic in the porn industry a fifth actor has tested positive for HIV. According to Radar Online, the performer's name, Patrick Stone, was revealed at an industry crisis talk on Wednesday.
MikeSouth.com, a porn industry blog, said the AIDS Healthcare Foundation held a teleconference in which Stone was joined by other performers who have come forward with testing positive for the disease including Cameron Bay, Rod Daily, Derrick Burts and Darren James.
Stone worked in the industry for over three years and revealed at the conference that his test might have been a false-positive.
"It's looking like a false-positive, but we're still not 100 percent sure about that," he said adding that he is still waiting for the results.
Stone, who is a Kink-studio actor, said he was tested through the Performer Availability Screening Services (PASS). He also claims the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) knew that he tested positive for the disease but he is still scheduled to shoot a porn scene on Thursday, Radar reports.
May people in the industry fear the crisis will only get worse unless drastic measures are taken. Several of the performers who have tested positive are begging for a stricter rule that requires actors to use condoms while shooting scenes.
At the conference Daily admitted to having sex with people he knew were HIV positive but insisted that he used a condom and said the practice of safe sex kept him from contracting the disease. He blames the industry for being more worried about money than the health of the actors.
Daily revealed he was HIV-positive two weeks after his girlfriend, Cameron Bay came forward. She also works in the industry as well. During an interview with the New York Daily News, Daily said he did not want to speculate how he contracted the disease but was glad he got an early diagnosis.
Both Bay and Daily believe the industry is wrong for only testing performers every 14 days, calling the system insufficient. At the conference, Bay described how she was on set with a male performer when he cut the tip of penis. Despite him bleeding the actor was still allowed to film without using a condom. She didn't say whether this was the incident when she contracted the virus but hinted at it, MikeSouth.com reports.
Another performer, who has decided to keep his identity a secret, is said to be the fourth person infected with HIV. He revealed that he has been working in the industry for two years but did not say what studio he worked for or how long he has known about his diagnosis.
Recently, the industry went on a moratorium to cease production but it was lifted after two weeks.
