An Alabama man died in jail from an untreated ulcer after going a week without food, medical care or even a court appearance, according to a lawsuit.

The son of Phillip David Anderson, 49, filed a federal civil rights suit Monday against Tuscaloosa County over Anderson’s February 2015 death. The father of four and U.S. Army veteran went into custody at Tuscaloosa County Jail because of a missed 2013 child support hearing and never came back, David Schoen, the attorney representing his family, told the Daily News.

Anderson’s family burst into tears when Schoen read them the text of the lawsuit at his mother’s senior center last week, Schoen said.

“It was a classic case of powerless people in Alabama. They don’t know where to turn,” Schoen said. “They said the one thing they want to make sure of is that this never happens again.”

Anderson’s youngest child was 23 at the time of his arrest and he has never missed any child support payments, Schoen said. He vomited after the first meal he ate at the jail Feb. 8 and couldn’t eat anything else for the next seven days while ailing from a “readily apparent, extraordinarily distended abdomen,” according to the lawsuit against the county, Sheriff Ron Abernathy and jail officials.

Anderson’s first and only treatment happened in the hospital where he was pronounced dead seven days later from an untreated perforated duodenal ulcer, the court documents said.

Anderson was a father of four and U.S. Army veteran. He was 49 years old and working in painting and construction at the time of his death.

“For a full week in February, 2015, while Mr. Anderson was held at the Tuscaloosa County Jail for missing a child support hearing he did not even know he had missed, these defendants deliberately, malevolently, intentionally, and with reckless disregard for his obvious and serious medical infirmities, stood idly by and watched Mr. Anderson die, slowly, day by day, screaming over and over again as he lay writhing in excruciating pain,” according to the lawsuit.

Representatives for the sheriff’s office didn’t immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment.

Robert Spence, an attorney representing the county, wrote in an email, “As the complaint indicates, Mr. Anderson had multiple health problems.” He declined further comment on the pending litigation.

The lawsuit alleges Anderson gave jail officials a list of his daily required medications yet never received any of them. Jail staff instead informed him inmates had to pay $25 to see a doctor and accused him of faking his health problems, according to the court documents.

Anderson lost consciousness Feb. 15, and his eyes appeared to go back in his head, the lawsuit said. A jail nurse ordered other inmates to lie Anderson face down on a bathroom floor where there was a visible pool of urine while the nurse called for help, according to the documents.

Anderson’s mother, Willie Mahan Anderson, poses in a T-shirt with her son’s Army photo on it. The family’s lawyer said Anderson’s relatives broke into tears as he read them the lawsuit.

Anderson’s family rushed to the jail. Staff had assured them he was fine all week after they checked in on reports about his condition from other inmates, the lawsuit said. They watched him as he was rolled out of the facility on a stretcher.

“They see him taken out, unconscious, still handcuffed, no shirt on, no shoes on, and it’s the middle of February,” Schoen said. “How do you have a prisoner in your jail who hasn’t eaten for seven days and you’re not aware of it? Every inmate was aware of it.”

The son of Anderson’s pressing the lawsuit, Phillip Fikes, told NBC News his father had been doing painting and construction work at the time of his death. Anderson was “a real joyful person to be around” and his family celebrated what would have been his 50th birthday this past August even as they wondered why the jail staff had not attended to him, Fikes said.

“I just feel like they didn’t care,” said Fikes, 31. “I hope and pray no one else has to go through what we went through.”