AIDS ACTIVIST CLAIMS MALPRACTICE IN LOSS-OF-VISION CASE.

Byline: Don Holland Daily News Staff Writer

An AIDS activist's medical malpractice suit got under way Friday with a barrage of claims, counterclaims and hints of bias.

Tom Swann says he lost use of his left eye due to the negligence of two doctors who failed to promptly diagnose his deteriorating vision, a complication of AIDS.

During opening arguments Friday, Swann's attorney, Dr. Mark Ravis, suggested that Drs. Manuel Marquez and Peter G. Weiner discounted the seriousness of Swann's deteriorating vision because, he said, they did not expect Swann to survive his condition.

``Not on one single occasion did (Marquez) examine Mr. Swann's eyes,'' Ravis told jurors in his opening statement. ``It's almost a no-brainer for a med student, and it wasn't done on one single occasion.''

Although Swann, 41, says he believes he was the victim of AIDS discrimination, his lawsuit makes no such claim. Swann suffers from cytomegalovirus retinitis, a disease common among AIDS patients that can lead to blindness within a week.

Swann drew national attention in 1993 when he filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Navy alleging discrimination because of his sexual orientation and HIV/AIDS status. The Navy settled out of court and added sexual-orientation protection for civilian workers - the only branch of the U.S. military service to provide this protection.

Attorney Pedro Nava, representing the doctors, countered by reciting a long list of appointments with Marquez in which Swann described his ailments - but never indicated he was losing his eyesight.

Nava also pointed to a sworn deposition in which Swann said he was aware of the symptoms of CMV and even had a kit to test for the disease in 1993, more than two years before it cost him his left eye.

In his statement to the jury, Nava noted Swann's background as an AIDS activist and his penchant for publicity, suggesting Swann is motivated not by a legitimate grievance, but by a desire to promote an agenda.