17 November,2015 07:42 AM IST | | IANS
Hollywood actor Charlie Sheen revealed he is HIV positive in an interview with Matt Lauer on the Today show on Tuesday
Los Angeles: Hollywood actor Charlie Sheen revealed he is HIV positive in an interview with Matt Lauer on the Today show on Tuesday.
Charlie Sheen
Sheen learnt he has HIV around four years back. On being asked if he could have transmitted the virus to anyone since diagnosis, he replied, "Impossible."
In California, it's illegal to intentionally pass on a sexually transmitted disease - so the state would have to prove Sheen desired to "use HIV as a weapon", says Scott Burris, the director of the Center for Health Law, Policy and Practice at Temple University's Beasley School of Law. Burris is not aware of a single case in which that was proven.
"California has one of the narrowest laws. It's unlikely that he intended to infect anybody," Burris said.
"But who knows where he had sex, and there are states with different laws, and in some of them, it's enough to expose someone to fluids. In fact, in some states you can be charged even if you used a condom," Burris added.
