U Got It Bad: Usher’s Dilemma and the Importance of STD Disclosure        

There’s a saying. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

There’s a report out that states that Usher allegedly paid a woman a little over a million dollars in a legal settlement because he infected her with Herpes.  The story goes on to say that Mr. Raymond was aware of his health status as far back as 2009.  That the accuser saw discharge coming from his penis and confronted him on it.  Then he went to the doctor and said that it was no longer an issue without telling her what the issue actually was.  Her lawsuit was focused around the accusation that he didn’t disclose to her that he had Herpes and that soon after she started to develop all of these symptoms that were consistent of one who has contracted Herpes.  Herpes is for life.  Let that sink in before I continue.

Now before I begin to get on Usher, which I will, I want to focus my attention on the young lady.  So, you saw discharge coming from his penis that concerned you enough to make him go to the doctor to get checked out, but you did not request to see the test results?  At that point, she had no idea that it was Herpes, but heck, it had to be some type of sexual disease.  I’m a man and no random shit leaks from my penis except urine and sperm.  Anything else, and I’m rushing my ass to the hospital.  I’m merely speculating, but I believe she continued to have sex with Usher because, well… he was Usher. Everybody loves a star.  The level of trust for them is high amongst the general public.  There’s people that would risk it all to have a sexual encounter with a celebrity but that’s a story for another day.  Now granted she could have contracted Herpes during the time she noticed the discharge, but either way she doomed herself by continuing to sleep with someone who showed abnormal symptoms that resembled a STD.   I’m not sure if they were having unprotected sex or not, but as a healthcare professor (yes, I do that on the side), I can certainly tell you that condoms cannot prevent you from contracting Herpes, so it’s kind of a moot point.  It’s not a death sentence though.  Herpes is not a life threatening condition. It more so inconveniences them and places a stigma on them.  However, people infected by Herpes can have sex but they have to be cautious and conscientious. They are less likely to pass the virus between outbreaks, but it’s still something you need to tell your partner so that they know the risks.

“Hey, I have Herpes.”

You have to disclose that.  It’s the morally correct thing to do, but in some states, you can additionally run into legal issues for withholding that type of information.  And this is where it is suggested that Usher placed himself in a precarious situation.  Allegedly, Usher was aware of his Herpes diagnosis, but his doctor informed him that he was asymptomatic and he could not spread the disease.  Common sense would tell you that if you have discharge oozing from your penis that the disease is pretty much alive and well. Herpes is incurable at this time, but there are medications such as Valtrex which reduce the amount of breakouts a person has.  He’s rich and can afford the best medical care that his money can provide.  I’m sure by now, he has gotten this thing under control and it’s not impacting his life as there are millions of people living normal lives with Herpes every day.  The problem is that he allegedly continued sleeping with her while the outbreak was active but claiming he was asymptomatic.  Honestly, I don’t even know how anybody can even think of or even be comfortable having sex when they have a STD that is causing shit to leak from their private parts.  I’d quarantine my damn self.  That has to be so embarrassing.

In my assessment, this all comes down to both parties using bad judgment.  Her for having sex with a man who presented symptoms of a sexually transmitted disease.  And him for continuing to have sex with her and allegedly failing to disclose the full extent of his condition.  Unfortunately for Usher, if he indeed was diagnosed with Herpes, then he was the only one with the obligation to disclose his condition.  At that point he could not be held liable for her consenting to have sex with a man that she knows has the Herpes virus.  He is not responsible for protecting the other person from contracting his illness. Now, he never admitted that he gave her Herpes, but he paid out the settlement. And as we have all seen, everybody will come out of the woodworks looking for the payoff.  As I’m writing this there is another victim attempting to sue Usher for transmitting the Herpes virus to her.  We know it’s only going to get worse before it gets better. Does this make Usher a monster?  Unlikely. Allegedly he paid her medical expenses prior to the lawsuit, so it rules out any act of malicious intent.  There’s so much we don’t know.  Maybe he didn’t give her the virus.  Maybe he got it from her.  Maybe he just paid her off to attempt to keep this out of the public eye because people run with what they hear before knowing all of the facts, which is what the media outlets did.  Crazy that something that allegedly occurred over a half-decade ago is coming back to screw up his life now.  We don’t know if it’s true, which is why I must remind you that it is alleged.  Just let this be a reminder for everybody that first, we need to get tested, two, we need to not put others at risk when we have a disease, and three, we need to disclose this information to our sexual partners so that they can understand and consent to the game of Russian roulette they are about to play.  Herpes is for life.

SOME FACTS ABOUT HERPES

20- 30% of the American Adult population has HSV-2 (Herpes Simplex Virus 2), which causes genital herpes.

Transmission of Herpes often occurs without symptoms, so it’s estimated that 85% of people with genital herpes don’t know it.

After someone comes into contact with an active herpes outbreak on another person, the incubation period takes about 1 week.  The first episodes occur 1-2 weeks after the virus has been transmitted.

Usual symptoms with genital herpes includes sores, ulcers, and legions in the genital area which take 2-4 weeks to heal fully.

The first episode is usually always the worse, so if it started out mild, it won’t increase in severity during reoccurrences.

fact credit to Draxe and American Sexual Health Association