Foundation sues Health Dept. over lax adult film condom regulation

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is suing the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health over lax regulation of condom use in adult films. KPCC's Brian Watt has the story.

Brian Watt: The lawsuit follows a month after the revelation that an adult film actress tested positive for HIV. Since then, the lawsuit alleges, L.A. county health officials have done little or nothing to fight the spread of sexually transmitted diseases on pornographic movie sets.

In a statement, the L.A. County public health department says it supports the state division of Occupational Safety and Health’s role in regulating adult film productions. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Michael Weinstein says it’s the county’s job to enforce rules on almost all aspects of health.

Michael Weinstein: We have regulations for bathhouses in Los Angeles where they do inspections, and on the other extreme, we do it for barber shops, and we shut down restaurants. They have the right to just go in and say, "we see rats, you’re shut down, until you correct the problem to our satisfaction."

Watt: The Foundation wants the county to do the same on the sets of pornographic films: shut them down if the performers are not using condoms.