A Huntington, W.Va., man has filed a lawsuit against the Lawrence County Sheriff and other personnel at the county jail citing inadequate medical treatment during his incarceration.

Christopher Hamlin filed the complaint on Jan. 28 in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court, two years after the alleged incident was to have occurred.

According to the one-page court document, Hamlin alleged the jail “failed to provide adequate medical care to plaintiff when he complained of three abscesses on his right arm.”

The complaint went on to say that as a result of allegedly not receiving treatment, the abscesses ruptured “and caused significant trauma” to Hamlin’s arm.

Hamlin also alleged he was infected with two diseases as a result of being kept in the jail’s holding tank.

Sheriff Jeff Lawless said, “When the matter was brought to the attention of the jail, the same day the matter was brought to my attention, he was released for medical care.”

Hamlin’s lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

No attorney was listed as representing Hamlin in the case.

Ironton Attorney Randy Lambert will handle the case for the county, Lawless said.