Your Legal Rights if You or a Loved One Suffers from a Burn Injury
Each year, approximately 450,000 people require medical attention due to a Burn Injury and 250,000 of those are children. The effects of a burn injury on you or a loved one’s life can be devastating. Burn injuries can require multiple, expensive skin grafting surgeries and leave permanent, disfiguring scars.
If you or a family member has suffered a Burn Injury due to another’s negligence, you can rely on The Boccardo Law Firm to protect your legal rights and help you see the justice that you deserve. We specialize in successfully litigating burn-injury cases.
Under the law in California, Burn Injury victims may receive compensation for harm if it was caused by negligence of another person, company or even a failed product. The compensation may include, but is not limited to:
- Pain & Suffering – Past and Future
- Wage Loss – Past and Future
- Medical expenses – Past and Future
- Psychological Counseling
Living with the Cost of a Burn Injury
A Burn Injury can be catastrophic, not only to your health, but to your finances as well. The Boccardo Law Firm can help you recover compensation for the surgeries and psychological therapies resulting from a costly burn injury. As an example, The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the top burn injury complications and the costs associated with those complications:
- Disfigurement, scarring or contracture occur in 66% of burn injuries.
- Cost: $28,000 – $35,000
- Psychological complications occur in 57% of burn injuries.
- Cost: $16,00 – $75,000
- Skin breakdown or scar contracture occurs in 55% of burn injuries.
- Cost: $38,000 – $107,000
- Infections, including pneumonia, sepsis and organ failure occurs in 35% of burn injuries.
- Cost: $58,000 – $120,000
- Delayed wound healing or skin graft failure occurs in 32% of burn injuries.
- Cost: $37,000 – $110,000
The Most Common Causes of Burn Injuries
A Burn Injury can be attributed to a number of causes, including:
- House Fires – House fires are notorious for their severity and most survivors are left with horrible burns.
- Car Accidents – Car accidents are dangerous enough by themselves, but also tend to cause burn injuries.
- Electrical Burns and Electrocution – Electrical burns not only cause surface damage, but also severe internal damage, leading many to underestimate the severity of their electrical burns.
- Scalds from Hot Liquid and Gases – Scalding water from a defective water heater or radiator, for example, usually only results in mild burns. However, prolonged exposure to a hot liquid or gas can lead to serious burn injuries.
Determining the Type of Burn Injury
Contact The Boccardo Law Firm if you or a loved one suffers from a second-degree or third-degree burn that was caused by the negligence of another individual, a company or a failed product.
- First Degree: Red skin, no blisters. First-degree burns usually do not require hospitalization, but can be painful.
- Second Degree: Blisters and thickened skin. Second-degree burns may require skin grafting and usually take longer than 3 weeks to heal.
- Third Degree: Overall thickening of the affected skin with a white color. Due to nerve damage, a third-degree burn victim may not feel pain, but requires immediate hospitalization at a burn-unit or ICU. The recovery is a long, painful process that results in permanent scaring. Third-degree burns also cause nerve damage or even result in death.
Call the Burn Injury Attorneys at The Boccardo Law Firm
We are available to assist you if you or a loved one suffered a Burn Injury. We represent burn injury victims in San Jose, the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California. The burn injury attorneys at The Boccardo Law Firm are ready to help you seek justice. It is our job to get you the compensation that you deserve. We will be there with you every step of way. Call us at 408-298-5678 for a free consultation.