PRISONER SUES OVER ARM'S LOSS.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - A convicted murderer is suing the state and Los Angeles County, saying his arm was amputated because he was improperly handcuffed to his hospital bed while at High Desert Hospital.

California State Prison-Los Angeles County inmate Sergio Marquez, 32, a diabetic, said improper handcuffing while he was recovering from back surgery cut off circulation to his left arm, which later had to be amputated at the elbow, the lawsuit said.

``The bottom line is nobody should lose their limb when they are in the care and custody of a correctional facility, under any circumstances,'' said Marquez's attorney, Jay Rothman. ``It was the combination of handcuffs being put on improperly and the lack of recognition by hospital and staff concerning the problem being created by the improper handcuffing.''

Marquez is serving a sentence of 29 years and eight months for a second- degree murder conviction in Los Angeles in 1989.

Defendants named in Marquez's complaint for medical malpractice and negligence include the state of California, Los Angeles County and High Desert Hospital.

State Department of Corrections officials declined to comment. Officials with the county Department of Health Services could not be reached for comment.

Claims seeking $10 million in damages filed both at the state and county levels were denied in April, the lawsuit said.

Marquez was confined in the prison ward at High Desert Hospital between late August and early September 2001 while recovering from back surgery.

The claim filed with the county states that Marquez repeatedly complained of excruciating pain, but a nurse accused him of wanting pain pills and gave him a hot towel, records show.

The nurse told a physician that Marquez only wanted pain medication and the doctor did not look at Marquez's hand. ``Delay caused irreparable damage and amputation,'' the county claim said.

The lawsuit said Marquez complained to hospital staffers that he was experiencing severe pain, coldness and numbness in his left arm but ``defendants ... nevertheless failed to examine, diagnose and treat plaintiff's condition,'' the lawsuit said.

``(D)efendants ... knew that handcuffs needed to be double locked for the safety of plaintiff and that the failure to double lock the handcuffs created a situation that was unreasonably dangerous to plaintiff in that it was likely that the handcuffs would tighten around plaintiff's wrist and cut off circulation in plaintiff's arm resulting in a serious injury to plaintiff,'' the lawsuit said.

Handcuffs that are double-locked do not loosen or tighten but stay in one place, officials said.