[akv]

'Free Love' At 'Occupy Wall Street' Site Prompts Mass STD Testing

Protesters Flocking To Nearby Health Clinics

Updated: Tuesday, 01 Nov 2011, 10:42 AM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 01 Nov 2011, 10:42 AM EDT

By New York Post


NEW YORK - "Occupy Wall Street" protesters are flocking to nearby health clinics for sexually-transmitted disease (STD) and HIV testing after getting their freak on in ’60s-style hookups with crusty strangers, sources said.

“Last week was free love,” a medical professional at a nearby clinic said, referring to the number of people who organizers referred for STD testing.

A volunteer at Zuccotti Park admitted concern among protesters about STDs. “We give directions to clinics if people ask for information regarding STDs,” the volunteer, who identified himself only as “Captain,” said, adding that pregnancy tests are also a hot item.

“Like anything else, it happens. People ask, and we do the best we can for them,” he added.

Volunteers at the medical tent hand out cash, usually $15 or $20, so the randy radicals can visit clinics that cater to a low-income clientele, the source said.

Experts said it is the right thing to do. “My advice for the protesters would be to practice safer sex,” according to Lisa Oldson, medical director of Chicago-based Analyte Health. "It's a lot cheaper to buy a condom than get treated for an STD."

Meanwhile, more than 100 protesters joined Monday night’s Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village, with several dressed as “corporate zombies.”

http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/...1_NewsCore_ncx