A Famed Hospital Churns Poor Patients Through Weight-Loss Surgery

Early one morning in February, a guard clanged on the door of David Mustiga’s jail cell on Rikers Island. Soon, the 43-year-old was shackled and placed on a bus to Bellevue.

Rikers detainees usually wrestle to get even rudimentary medical care. But Mr. Mustiga and 10 different prisoners have undergone elective bariatric surgical procedure at Bellevue, usually spending weeks within the hospital.

Even in the most effective situations, recovering from bariatric surgical procedure is hard. Trying to recuperate in jail, the place detainees have little management over what they eat or how briskly they eat it, is particularly troublesome.

Mr. Miller mentioned sufferers from Rikers have been “screened and assessed like all others” and have been stored at Bellevue till they have been able to eat the kinds of meals that have been obtainable on the jail.

Mr. Mustiga, who was later convicted of drug trafficking, weighed greater than 300 kilos and had hypertension. He had been excited months earlier when a workers member on the Rikers medical clinic first instructed him about the advantages of bariatric surgical procedure. He mentioned nobody had warned him in regards to the challenges of recovering whereas incarcerated.

When Mr. Mustiga boarded the bus to Bellevue, he thought it was for a short go to to get bloodwork in preparation for surgical procedure. Instead, he was admitted to the hospital’s locked jail ward and positioned on a liquid weight loss program.

There, he met one other affected person ready for bariatric surgical procedure, Luis Perez. The males bonded over their weight-reduction plan ordeals and teamed as much as steal scraps from their neighbors’ hospital trays.

Mr. Perez, who was awaiting sentencing for drug possession, had surgical procedure first. Afterward, he instructed Mr. Mustiga that the ache was worse than when he had been hit by a automotive and misplaced his arm above the elbow.

Mr. Mustiga panicked. He mentioned he had tried to again out of the surgical procedure, however a physician instructed him that this was his solely shot at getting the process and that if he didn’t observe by means of, he could be despatched again to the jail instantly.

Mr. Mustiga mentioned he usually used the identical strain ways on his drug clients. “Tell someone it’s their last shot, and they find their wallet pretty quickly,” Mr. Mustiga mentioned.

He determined to have the operation.

After surgical procedure, sufferers are imagined to eat small, protein-rich meals.

Back at Rikers, Mr. Mustiga bartered cigarettes for protein powder. He reviewed a Bellevue pamphlet outlining dos and don’ts after surgical procedure. It advised that he eat nonfat Greek yogurt or drink eight cups of Crystal Light. Exercise suggestions included attempting a Zumba dance class.

Mr. Mustiga wasn’t getting correct vitamin. He mentioned he misplaced greater than 100 kilos in lower than six months — a charge of weight reduction that may be harmful. His hair fell out in clumps, and his medical data present he was receiving iron dietary supplements for anemia.

This summer season, Mr. Perez was transferred to Franklin Correctional, a jail close to the Canadian border, to serve a four-year sentence.

During a go to in August with two Times reporters, Mr. Perez’s pores and skin was sallow. He mentioned he was not getting sufficient protein and couldn’t eat with out vomiting. He apprehensive the surgical procedure had made him a goal in jail, the place measurement issues for cover.

Two months later, Mr. Perez was badly overwhelmed. He mentioned his attackers stole the protein powder he had been saving up.

The Blood-Filled Stomach