(AP)
A California-based health clinic that caters to the porn industry is reportedly the source of patient information released to a WikiLeaks-style website, exposing the names, birth dates, stage names and HIV status of more than 12,000 current and former adult film performers.
The private information from the former Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation clinic in Sherman Oaks, Calif., now known as AIM Medical Associates, was released earlier this year on Pornwikileaks.com, according to a March 30 article by Gawker.com.
"This essentially 'outed' them to any passing Googler, which caused an uproar in the industry since many porn performers try to keep their real name secret, for obvious reasons," Gawker's Adrian Chen wrote. "That 15,000 names were on the list was significant, especially considering only about 1,200-1,500 performers are currently working in California's Porn Valley."
Chen's article relied largely on information from porn industry blogger Mike South and an unidentified former porn performer who claims he used a stage name made up "off the top of [his] head" prior to an HIV test eight years. That fictitious name -- which the actor claims was never used or spoken anywhere else -- was listed solely on AIM's testing form, but recently appeared on Pornwikileaks.com.
"Without a question, [the leak] came from AIM," the actor told Gawker.com.
South, meanwhile, urged former AIM clients to get in touch with the San Fernando Valley clinic.
"If you have ever tested at AIM you may want to call them, or better yet: Send them a certified letter demanding that all of your info be removed from their database," South wrote on his blog. "Even though the damage is done, it is clear that AIM has no direct knowledge how it happened so it could and probably will happen again."
Attempts to reach AIM officials and Pornwikileaks early Thursday were unsuccessful and a message seeking comment from South was not returned.
Jeffrey Douglas, an attorney for the clinic, told The Los Angeles Times late Wednesday that officials did not have a comment concerning the allegations, but may release one on Thursday.
According to the porn industry's voluntary guidelines, performers must have tested HIV-negative within 30 days of filming. Directors are permitted to access AIM's database to ensure compliance.
The AIM clinic opened in 1998, but was shut down in December by Los Angeles County public health officials two days after state health officials denied its application to operate as a community clinic based on what regulators called "business-related issues," according to the Los Angeles Times.
After it was sold, state officials allowed the clinic to reopen as AIM Medical Associates P.C., part of a doctor's office regulated by the Medical Board of California.
Messages seeking comment from Los Angeles County public health officials were not immediately returned early Thursday.
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