Burn injuries: Overview

Burn injuries can be devastating — certainly life-altering.

In the immediate aftermath of a burn, healthcare is the top priority. The recovery process after a burn can take years, and burns can leave mental and physical scars that last a lifetime. The cost for treatment can be tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. As a burn victim recovers physically, they may also need help to recover financially. In many cases, financial problems after a burn incident can lead to depression and desperation, causing more emotional harm.

However, you may be able to seek compensation for your burn injuries. This may be possible if another person or entity was at least partially to blame for your burn injuries. Seeking experienced legal representation and filing a burn injury lawsuit may give you the best chance of obtaining the compensation you need to recover financially after a burn injury.

What are severe burn injuries?

Burn injuries occur whenever the skin is exposed to heat, fire, chemicals, electricity or even radiation from the sun or other sources. Burns range in severity. Mild burns only affect the outer layer of the skin while severe burn injuries reach the fat layer under the skin.

Although mild burns may completely heal without long term side effects, severe burns can lead to lifelong scars, joint issues and nerve damage. This can cause significant emotional trauma to burn victims in addition to the financial expenses of continued treatment.

The financial costs of burn injuries

Medical expenses are the cause for more than 65% of all bankruptcies, either because of the high cost of care or time out of work. Burn injuries can cause long hospital stays and leave families in desperate financial situations. The Biden Administration has mandated some rules to help keep costs down for patients. In 2021, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor and Treasury, and the Office of Personnel Management banned surprise billing and certain out-of-network cost-sharing for emergency and non-emergency services. These new rules have helped keep costs down for medical services. 

Before these new rules went into effect, patients would often be hit with high costs in their hour of need. For example, air ambulance providers routinely charge $36,500 or more for their services. To make matters worse, more than 70% of these transports were furnished out-of-network, meaning most if not all costs would fall to the insured individual. 

Thankfully, these new rules have eased some of the potential financial burdens of medical emergencies like burn accidents. However, even with those new rules, the costs of medical care can be untenable. Legal action may be helpful in covering the costs of past and future medical expenses. 

Additionally, filing a lawsuit over a burn injury may enable you to seek compensation for pain and suffering – injuries that go beyond the physical. You may be eligible to join a severe burn lawsuit investigation if you meet the following criteria:

• You sustained a burn while at work or from a defective consumer product
• Your burn occurred within the last three years
• You had to stay overnight at the hospital for your burn (a stay of at least two days) AND
• You suffer from permanent injuries (scarring, nerve damage, muscle damage, etc.) as a result of the burn

What kind of burn injury lawsuits have been filed?

Serious burns can happen in many ways, and lawsuits have been filed in light of a range of burn injuries. Burn injury lawsuits have been filed over accidents relating to a range of industries, including food service, consumer products, and realty.

One of the most famous burn lawsuits in history was filed by Stella Liebeck in 1994 against McDonald’s when she spilled boiling-hot coffee in her lap after purchasing it from the fast-food franchise. While her case was often used as a punchline or mocked, Liebeck suffered greatly from her injuries caused by the coffee. McDonald’s kept its coffee at temperatures between 180 and 190 degrees, a temperature that, if spilled, can cause third-degree burns in three to seven seconds. The plaintiff was hospitalized for eight days with third-degree burns. She endured skin grafting and two years of medical treatment. The jury found that McDonald’s was 80% responsible for the incident and awarded her $200,000 in compensatory damages for medical expenses and $2.7 million in punitive damages, though the trial judge reduced the punitive damages to three times the amount of the compensatory damages. As a result of the lawsuit, McDonald’s lowered the temperature of its coffee to make drinks safe for consumers.

Consumers have also taken action for severe burns resulting from defective products. Some defective products can explode, catch fire or generate high levels of heat – any of which can result in severe burns. Recently, thousands of e-bikes were recalled after six reports of the bikes catching on fire, exploding or sparking which caused burns to consumers. Individuals injured by defective products can take legal action for their injuries. For example, several lawsuits have been filed against pressure cooker manufacturers for causing burns during explosions. 

One woman sued her property manager for $25 million after a gas-leak explosion occurred in her rented apartment. The explosion caused the plaintiff serious burns and killed a man at the neighboring duplex.

A Minnesota man won a $56 million settlement in September 2022 after a power washing hose and connection failed, spraying scalding water and causing third-degree burns. 

Whether from work accidents, product defects, or situations caused by another party, burns can leave scars in many areas of a person’s life. If another party was at least partially responsible for a severe burn that sent you to the hospital and left you with medical expenses, an attorney — especially one experienced in burn cases and their complications — can help you determine whether legal action is prudent and whether compensation is possible.