From the moment it was announced that Darren James had been diagnosed as HIV-positive, some elements of the adult industry began to question how the AIM Healthcare Foundation (AIM) handled the situation, renewing debate about the health clinic’s general operational capabilities. Another frequent criticism during this time has been that AVN was too close to AIM to criticize the health clinic with any sense of objectivism, thereby complict in AIM's alleged failures.
No critic has been more vocal than producer Rob Spallone, a former talent manager who at various times was involved in testing clinics.
“AVN stands behind AIM, which, if they're gonna stand behind AIM and tell people, ‘Oh that's the clinic of the business,’ then there's gonna be a problem,” Spallone said.
“Because if McDonalds opens up, 90 percent of the time, there's a Burger King across the street. If I send you to a dentist and he works on your mouth and you don't like that dentist, you're gonna go to another dentist.
“There are companies out there that support AIM — and I'm not attacking just AIM and Sharon Mitchell — there are companies out there that support them and say, "We only accept tests from AIM." That's against the law, OK?”
Yet in June of 2003, it was prominent adult industry attorney Paul Cambria who suggested that it would be wise for everyone to only accept tests from AIM. "I am recommending that all companies who are shooting in the state of California stay with the exclusive testing from AIM Healthcare Foundation. AIM has the track record, and the written endorsement of the Department of Health of Los Angeles. AIM has also received support of the State Assembly and the Cal/OSHA," noted Cambria.
Spallone says that such a stance is illegal. Lawyers consulted by AVN.com confirmed that production companies are in fact free to choose exclusive health care providers for their talents needs and their records.
Spallone also brought up was the fact the AVN gives AIM free ads. Stating that he plans on opening up another clinic, to compete with AIM, Spallone wonders if AVN would donate adds to other clinics.
“If they are run correctly, meet the necessary standards and practices that have been established and are in fact 501(c)(3)[nonprofit], than yes, we would,” Paul Fishbein, the president of AVN, said.
Fishbein refutes Spallone’s position that AVN has a policy that calls for talent to only use AIM, but adds, “We support the work that Sharon has done. She's done great things for the business. Before her, the testing situation was a mess.”
The source of the confusion is likely “Does Sex Kill”, the cover story of August 2003 issue of AVN. The story was the summary of an investigation by AVN, after noticing that USA Referral Service, an upstart clinic, was using PCR-RNA tests rather than PCR-DNA tests.
PCR-RNA tests are meant for monitoring people with HIV, not for diagnostic purposes. Simply put, every one of the 200 people who tested at USA Referral Service was potentially working with HIV. Thankfully, none of them were.
USA Referral Service closed three-weeks after it opened, in no small part because of the investigation conducted by AVN.
It was during the time USA Referral Service was posing a health threat to the entire industry that LFP, Vivid, Wicked Pictures, VCA, Red Light District, Elegant Angel, Video Team, Anabolic, Platinum X, Lucky Star Productions, Tabitha Yang Management, and Jet Set Productions, the first gay production company to begin mandatory testing, declared that they would only accept test results from AIM.
Fishy Finances?
Then there is the claim that Mitchell is price gouging, raising the prices of testing to line her own pockets. Clients of AIM are charged $110 for a HIV PCR-DNA test, a chlamydia and a gonorrhea test. Mitchell stated that AIM was charged $70 for each test; Spallone claims that she is only charged $55, or maybe even $50 per test.
“When I had the clinic, I was charging $85 when I was involved with the clinic. Sharon had no choice but to charge $85. When I closed, she raised to $95. Then she raised to $100. Now she raised the cost to $110,” Spallone said.
AVN.com called the clinic used by AIM to discover what their costs actually are. A PCR-DNA test that would cost an individual patient $225, or a doctor $220, costs AIM just $45; ten dollars lower than Spallone’s guess. The discrepancy between the cost of the HIV test and Mitchell’s statement that the test cost $70 can be explained very simply – Mitchell is including the cost of chlamydia and gonorrhea tests, which became mandatory last year.
Today the clinic verified that AIM pays $11 each for a gonorrhea and chlamydia test, bringing the total costs of testing up to $67.
Spallone had been under the impression that the chlamydia and gonorrhea tests were being covered the county.
“The clinic I was involved with, the doctors, they got these other two tests, for free, from the government. They're free tests. The one for the gonorrhea and all that other shit. Sharon finally got the same deal to get those tests,” Spallone said. “She raised the price. You know what she told this whole industry? The reason she raised the price? She's doing two other tests. Those tests are free. You show me where she pays for that test.”
In fact, AIM took advantage of the free testing that Spallone spoke of until last summer when a sharp rise in the number of STD cases caused AIM to look for a faster method of testing. The county tests took over a week to get back, whereas the current tests take only a day or two.
At 900 patients a month, that means testing generates $99,000 a month, of which they pay the lab $60,300. The remaining $38,000 goes to cover operation expenses such as $20,000 a month in salaries for the staff of nurses, phlebotomists, doctors and others – including Sharon Mitchell’s salary (Mitchell takes home approximately $1650 per paycheck bi-monthly).
That leaves $18,000 a month, the bulk of which goes to fixed costs for things such as rent, the operational expenses also includes training for staff and various insurance policies that the clinic is required by law to take, some of which must be paid on quarterly, bi-annual or annual schedules.
AIM, as a non-profit organization, must file publicly available records of their finances. As previously reported by AVN, an examination of AIM’s form 990, the non-profit equivalent of a 1040 form, shows that the health clinic isn’t exactly Microsoft.
AIM’s 990 in 2001, the most recent year filed at Guidestar, a non-profit monitoring service, shows that AIM was actually nearly $60,000 in debt at the end of 2001.
AIM raised $77,468 in contributions and $458,736 in fees for a total revenue of $536,204. The bulk of the revenue, $477,892, went to operational expenses. Throw in training costs and unexpected equipment costs and at the end of the year, AIM had $494 dollars in assets and $70,440 in liabilities. AIM finished the year with a debt burden of $57,818.
The clinic that AIM uses was described as “top of the line” by Dr. Peter Kerdnt, the head of the STD program for LA County Health Department. Kerdnt also confirmed that ELISA testing, which has been suggested to be a preferable testing method, would “be a major step backwards.”
Darren James – When Did Mitchell Know and Why Didn’t We Know When She Did.
On April 9, Darren James went to AIM for his HIV test. For the last seven years James had went to AIM every three weeks, retesting one week earlier than required most of the time.
Contrary to what some have speculated, Mitchell didn’t know that James was positive on Saturday; the lab held the test up. AIM wouldn’t issue an alert to talent just because test results had been held at the lab – it happens approximately thirty times a week according to Mitchell. The clinic agreed that was the case.
In other words, the HIV test results had not been returned to AIM until Monday morning, April 12.
On Monday morning Mitchell drew a second and a third testing sample. She didn’t issue an alert at that point, waiting for a confirmation before issuing an alert.
“If I would have sent out an alert at that point, the production companies would have killed me if it had turned out to be a false positive,” Mitchell said.
Spallone says he believes, “1000 percent that she should have let everyone know on Monday. We lose a day, we lose a day.”
The results of the first confirmation test arrived Tuesday afternoon. AIM’s written protocol, which has been approved of by medical doctors, calls for two confirmations before announcing that there is a HIV-positive patient. Given the unique nature of the adult community, Mitchell decided to jump the gun and announce that James was HIV-positive after just one confirmation.
Kerdnt confirmed that there is a written protocol that AIM follows and said that he wouldn’t second-guess her decision.
As for tracking, the first- and second- generation has been difficult, Spallone wonders why there wasn’t a database of every performer’s professional sexual history on hand via a third party database.
Spallone himself suggests that the database should be third party, meaning not AIM’s responsibility.
“Duh. That would be great, but we don’t have the cash for that,” Mitchell said. “Who’s going to pay for that?”
Customer Service
Spallone’s last major gripe with Mitchell is that she offers what he refers to as poor customer service. He tells of a female performer that he knows that was given the wrong test results by AIM.
“She didn't look at it. Not that she's stupid, she got handed her test. If there was something wrong with it, they would have told her,” Spallone said. “She got in her car, and she went to set. And they said, ‘Your two IDs and your test.’ The test was some guy's test. They gave her the wrong one.”
Mitchell agreed that a mistake had been made, but suggests that accidents such as that do happen in any clinic from time to time. “It’s your HIV and STD test we’re talking about here and it's effectively your permit to work so it’s always a good idea to double check. It’s unfortunate, but accidents do happen.”
Spallone also complained about 16 clients of Jim South’s World Modeling agency whose tests were lost by AIM three weeks ago. “AIM told them. ‘We lost your test; we've got to re-do them.’ How do you loose somebody's blood, OK? “
According to Mitchell, the 16 “lost tests” were in reality 16 lost clients – none of the performers indicated that Jim South should be sent their test results.
AVN.com attempted to call Jim South at his office to get his take on the story, but no one answered the phone.
