Sherman Oaks Clinic for Porn Actors Is Closed for Good

Despite efforts to restructure and reopen after being closed down by the Los Angeles County Health Department last December, the Adult Industry Medical Foundation (AIM), located on Van Nuys Boulevard, officially announced in a statement to Adult Video News (AVN) on Monday that it will not reopen.

“We are officially closed over financial hardship—we had to close,” AIM Director Sharon Mitchell said in the statement to AVN. Mitchell declined to speak to Patch.

The closure of AIM leaves the adult-film industry, which employs thousands of people in the San Fernando Valley, without an industry-related clinic for testing for sexually transmitted diseases.

Industry insiders indicated they were not surprised by the closure. Many had been saying all along that AIM would not be reopening.

“AIM is a very shady clinic—they got shut down because of what they did to me and they have been lying to save face about reopening,” former porn-movie actor Derrick Burts told Patch.

Burts, aka “Patient Zeta,” may have been a catalyst for the closure after he went public last October about poor treatment from AIM when he received an HIV-positive diagnosis. Burts was considered a “crossover” performer doing both gay and straight porn and reportedly contracted the disease after working in the porn industry for just four months. Read the previous Patch story here.

According to Mike South, the editor of the porn industry news site mikesouth.com, the reasons for the closure are many, including low confidence in AIM among performers, a perceived high instance of false positive results for STDs other than HIV, and ongoing civil litigation, with more seen on the horizon due to the recent leak of the AIM database, known as "

On multiple recent visits to the clinic, Patch spoke to the receptionist, who refused to give her name, but insisted the clinic was only closed for remodeling and would be reopening.  Repeated phone and e-mail requests to Mitchell and manager Jennifer Miller went unanswered.

“My sources inside told me all along they were not going to open. They had been instructed to lie and now have been laid off—finally AIM has officially admitted it,” South told Patch.

On April 11, AIM posted the following message on its website: “AIM is closed this week for remodeling. Please call our office for test results. For testing please use our online testing services.” 

On Jan. 14, AIM appeared to be reopening when they filed a new fictitious business license, which changed their license status to a medical office instead of a clinic.

Dr. Colin Hamblin is listed on the permit with the state medical board and is also listed on the AIM website as the medical director, but his actual office is located 400 miles north, in Point Reyes.

Hamblin abruptly hung up the phone several times when Patch asked about his relationship with AIM. He then called back about an hour later, then hung up again without speaking.

“We did issue a cease and desist order last year to close the clinic when we discovered the clinic had been improperly licensed since 1988. If they reopen as a medical business, we will no longer have any jurisdiction over AIM,” Ralph Montano, a spokesman for the state public health department, told Sherman Oaks Patch.

In the meantime, the AIM database for producers and performers to check health status has been taken off the website. Performers are using Talent Testing to get checked for disease.

“The adult film workers were tired of waiting for AIM to get it together and come up with a new system. There is nothing in place to protect the workers, who pay $130 of their own money every time they are tested, and especially on straight porn sets, there are no condoms available for the performers—this must change," Burts said.

Burts would like to see many changes to the industry, including the producers paying for the actors' testing. He said these days he is feeling good, has received excellent medical treatment and is dedicating his time to being a safe-sex advocate for college students. He is no longer working in adult films. 

Burts is also active with AIDS Health Foundation (AHF), which is pushing for the availability of condoms on set for performers. The group is working with LA Film to make sure accessibility to testing and condoms is part of the permit process. AHF also wants to see the performers tested more frequently, not only for HIV, but other STDs.