Syphilis Outbreak
In August 2012, Marcus was the central person in an outbreak of syphilis among porn-performers leading to a hold on filming. The investigation revealed that Mr Marcus was the first infected with syphilis and that he had provided incomplete information to the producers.
Marcus first noticed evidence of the infection as a rash of brown spots on his hands. He attempted self-diagnosis by internet searches and asking other people, with no success. He assumed it was due to stress or a vitamin deficiency and started taking vitamin supplements. On June 13, 2012, Marcus passed a medical test performed by Cutting Edge Testing because testing for syphilis was not standard at that time.
In May a performer had mentioned marks on his penis and refused to work with him; Marcus believed this to just be a rough patch of skin or a reaction to a personal lubricant. On June 24 Marcus filmed a production for Bang Bros with noticeable white leasions on his penis. None of the other performers or production crew mentioned anything and, with the recent clean test, Marcus still believed it was due to vitamin deficiency.
Marcus was first diagnosed with syphilis on July 12, 2012 by his personal doctor and received a shot of penicillin the next day. On July 14, 2012, Marcus went for another routine medical test with Talent Testing Services (TTS), which had added syphilis to its standard tests two weeks previously. This test was positive but was only a day after the injection. He waited the recommended ten days from the initial test and was retested by TTS on July 21. The test was still positive but his doctor informed him that it was safe, he was not contagious and that his body would always show a base level reading for the infection. Marcus returned to work on July 24; due to his history and reputation in the industry he was not asked for the full test and just showed the producer a copy on his cellphone, enabling him to hide the rapid plasma reagin (RPR) section relevant to syphilis. For a different production, Marcus faked paper documentation by folding the page of the original to hide the RPR results and making a photocopy. This was noticed by Mark Blazing of Blazing Bucks on August 7, a week after filming. During this time Marcus had worked three times, although the female performers from these productions all subsequently tested negative. The outbreak may have occurred before he was diagnosed and received the penicillin.
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