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The admission that he has HIV to be made by actor Charlie Sheen is more of confirming what some people around him know. Sheen will appear live in Studio 1A on Tuesday, Nov. 17, and discuss his health issue with Matt Lauer.
TMZ, in an exclusive report, says that Sheen had several sex partners over the past few years but he never told them he has HIV because his blood tests did not reveal the presence of the HIV virus. With that line of reasoning, the actor believes he did not deceived the women he slept with.
The entertainment website cites its source that say Sheen had known he is HIV positive for over two years, while another source says it is for a longer period. The actor allegedly took medication for HIV and underwent several blood tests.
People reports that the reason why Sheen kept his HIV diagnosis a secret is he was afraid of the legal consequences.
Howard Bragman, a Hollywood publicist and crisis manager, says, "The interview could open up a lot of sympathy for him, but he has to be concerned about a fear of litigation from former sexual partners," quotes People.
According to Scott Burris, director of the Center for Health Law, Policy and Practice and professor at the Beasly School of Law of Temple University, California has to prove Sheen "desired to 'use HIV as a weapon'" for him to face charges because it is illegal to intentionally pass on a sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the state.
Burris adds that he is unaware of a single case wherein it was proven that STD was intentionally passed. He notes that "California has one of the narrowest laws. It's unlikely that he intended to infect anybody."
However, the law expert points out that different states have different laws, and Sheen may have had sex with women in other states where just exposing someone to fluids could open a person to charges even if a condom was used.
The star of "Two and a Half Men" was married thrice, had lived with two girlfriends and admitted to hiring prostitutes.
Susan Moss, a family law attorney at Chemtob Moss & Forman warns, "He is at risk at losing civil judgements to all the lovers that he's had if he knew that he was infected and never told them."
