NYC man sues over prison dining

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NEW YORK, June 27 (UPI) -- An ex-inmate is suing New York City for $80 million, accusing officers at Rikers Island of forcing him to eat too fast, causing him to need life-saving surgery.

In a sworn statement accompanying the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn this week, Michael Isolda said he needed more than the 5 minutes allotted by prison guards to consume each meal, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

Isolda required extra time to chew and swallow because he had undergone a gastric bypass surgery to reduce the size of his stomach in 2008, the statement said.

When Isolda was sentenced to 30 days in jail for possession of painkillers in 2011, his surgeon submitted a letter to the sentencing judge, Staten Island Supreme Court Justice Leonard Rienzi, stating the inmate's nutrition requirements.

Isolda alleges the note was ignored by officials at the prison, and the rushed dining made him vomit after each meal, the Daily News reported.

The situation came to a head March 27, 2011, when Isolda awoke unable to breathe and in pain. His stomach had become separated from his intestine due to the repeated vomiting, requiring emergency surgery to save his life, the newspaper reported.