Diabetic inmate sues, says toes amputated due to lax care in state prisons
A diabetic Southern Nevada prison inmate is alleging in a lawsuit that shoddy care in the state’s prison system led to all of the toes on his left foot and one toe on his right foot being amputated while he was behind bars.
“It’s been traumatic,” said Luis Sandoval, 56. “It’s frustrating because I feel like I’m being ignored by the system. My requests have been ignored.”
The lawsuit, filed March 17 in U.S. District Court against the Nevada Department of Corrections and a number of other plaintiffs, alleges that what Sandoval has gone through since entering the state’s prison system in August 2023 has been “nothing short of cruel and unusual punishment.”
During a 40-minute interview, which was conducted at his attorney’s office in Henderson, Sandoval talked about what he said has been a nightmarish experience in three different prison facilities — Three Lakes, High Desert, and the Southern Desert Correctional Center, all of which are just outside of Indian Springs, about 45 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Sandoval has Type 2 diabetes, a condition where the body does not use insulin properly and sugar builds up in the blood, according to the Mayo Clinic. Because of a lack of “even basic medical care” for his diabetes, he said he was forced to have all of his toes on his left foot amputated in September of 2023 after about a three-week stay at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center in Las Vegas.
Similarly, 13 months later, he had one of the toes on his right foot amputated from a diabetic foot ulcer with gangrene.
The suit lists a number of high-level Nevada prison officials as plaintiffs, but also lists day-to-day caregivers and correctional officers.
Sandoval said he immediately asked for care for his condition upon entering High Desert State Prison in 2023, noting his “swollen left foot.”
He said he’s also requested orthopedic shoes and a walker, but only received a walker when an outgoing inmate gave him one as a gift.
His pain, he said, has been severe. He can’t perform his jailhouse kitchen job like he once was able to. He also said some in his facility ask him if he’s “drunk” because his balance is so poor when he attempts to walk.
“Moving around is hard for me,” Sandoval said. “When I leave, I don’t think I’ll be able to perform any of the jobs I used to do. My life will not be the same.”
Efforts to reach a Nevada Department of Corrections spokesperson for comment were unsuccessful.
‘A lack of medical care within the system’
Sandoval is incarcerated because of an incident that happened in a grocery store parking lot on June 16, 2022, according to Metropolitan Police Department records.
An arrest report shows that police said Sandoval robbed a woman at knifepoint for about $200. Sandoval said he didn’t want to talk about his case, but added that he hopes people don’t judge him solely by what he’s incarcerated for.
“People who are in prison or in jail, that’s how they’re confronting the things that they did,” Sandoval said. “My sentence is being here. But people who are judgemental don’t know what it’s like to have a condition and go without the proper medical care for it. I wish those people could spend one day in my shoes.”
Cristina Valentine of the firm Lagomarsino Law, Sandoval’s counsel, said she believes her client’s story, while unique in some ways, is not an outlier.
“There’s a lack of medical care within the system,” Valentine said. “There seems to be some pretty significant consistencies with the stories that we hear.”
In the 37-page complaint for the lawsuit, Sandoval’s lawyers called the alleged lack of appropriate medical care an example of “long-standing, systemic barriers upheld by Nevada Department of Corrections officials and their subordinates.”
Often, she said, inmate requests, including medical concerns, need to be written down on paper. And often, Valentine said, requests go long periods of time without being answered, if they ever get answered.
“We know that sometimes inmates are prescribed medications, but then they stop receiving those meds after 30 or 60 days,” Valentine said. “When you’re talking about chronic conditions, that can’t happen.”
Calls for reform go unheard, lawyers say
In the lawsuit, Sandoval’s attorneys said past calls for reform within the prison system have only led to officials being “deliberately indifferent to the serious medical needs of inmates like Sandoval.”
As with any lawsuit, the outcome could be decided by a number of factors. Sandoval said he’s not thinking solely about monetary damages he might receive, but also about how his case could help other inmates.
“My lawsuit could be a foundation for other lawsuits in the future,” Sandoval said. “I feel confident about the lawsuit. I’ve filled out all the necessary forms, in English and in my native language (Spanish). I’ve done everything I can possibly do.”
A car salesman on the outside, Sandoval said he came to Las Vegas from California after the onset of the pandemic a few years ago. He said he figured there would be better job opportunities here, but things didn’t work out like he planned.
He said he’s worried about what his future will look like when he leaves prison. He’s scheduled to get out in December. He said he’s excited to see his wife of nearly 30 years and his three adult children — all of whom live in California — and he said he expects to have grandchildren in the coming years.
“The concern at this point is that he’s going to have to have more amputations because he can’t control anything until he gets out,” Valentine said. “He can’t control if he sees a doctor.”
The lawsuit asks for a jury trial and damages of at least $30,000.
“I would like people to know that all inmates are human, too,” Sandoval said. “We’re going through injustices with food and medical care that is not provided. People with chronic conditions, it’s a struggle. Only people who have diabetes would understand what I go through every day.”
Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.