A serious burn can leave you with a difficult reality that affects your work life, social interactions, and day-to-day life. When you or a loved one are dealing with a serious burn injury and believe that someone’s negligence was to blame for the incident, you may deserve compensation for what happened to you.
A York burn injury lawyer can look into the accident and evaluate your best legal options. A seasoned catastrophic injury attorney can work tirelessly to hold any individual or company responsible for your injury legally accountable through the claim process. Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers know how to provide our clients with the representation and support they need. Our team recently obtained $1.2 million for a client after they suffered severe burns from an electrical shock on the job.
Common Causes and Types of Burn Injuries
A serious burn injury can happen from multiple kinds of accidents and in a range of settings. Some common causes of burn injuries include explosions, electric or chemical fires, and exposure to dangerous or flammable substances. Motor vehicle accidents such as car crashes or motorcycle wrecks are another leading cause of severe or life-threatening burn injuries.
Burn injuries can also stem from potential medical negligence, such as radiation burns or surgical burns. There are multiple forms and degrees of burns:
First-Degree Burns
These are the mildest type of burn, characterized by dryness and reddening of the skin. A first-degree burn impacts only the outer layer of the skin, known as the epidermis.
Second-Degree Burns
These are burns characterized by damage not only to the outermost layer of the skin but also the second layer known as the dermis. Symptoms can include redness, physical pain, and blisters.
Third-Degree Burns
These are burns where the extent of the injury penetrates through the epidermis and dermis into the fatty tissue below, known as the hypodermis. Signs of a third-degree burn can include mottled black, red, or yellow skin as well as blistering.
Fourth-Degree Burns
These are the most severe types of burns someone can suffer. A fourth-degree burn not only involves injury to all the layers of the skin but penetrates into the muscles, tendons, and bone. The damage may be so extensive that the individual does not even feel pain due to impaired nerve signals resulting from the burns.
A serious burn injury can leave someone dealing with significant physical impairment. In addition to the damage inflicted by the burns, these injuries can result in secondary complications such as a heightened risk of infection or respiratory issues. A York attorney could provide guidance about filing a burn injury lawsuit when you are harmed by someone’s negligence.
Filing a Burn Injury Lawsuit
When you are considering filing a burn injury lawsuit, you should speak with a York lawyer as soon as you can. Pennsylvania law imposes a strict filing window of two years from the date of the incident to file most burn injury claims. While there are exceptions, if you miss this window, you could lose your right to seek compensation at all.
Your attorney could help you seek a wide range of compensation for your burn injuries. Beyond the initial treatment required for a serious burn, an injured person often requires extensive treatment and therapy. In some cases, multiple surgeries may be needed in the aftermath of a burn injury.
A successful lawsuit could help the injured person to recover the economic and non-economic losses from the burn injury. Compensation could include the value of their pain, suffering, lost wages, past and future medical bills, loss of life’s pleasures, and more.
Speak With a York Burn Injury Attorney
A York burn injury lawyer can fight for your rights at every stage of your case while seeking any and all compensation you may be entitled to. An attorney can make sure your case gets the attention it deserves and that nothing slips through the cracks.
When it comes to collecting evidence to support your claim, constructing a settlement proposal, interacting with the insurance company and any other parties involved, or bringing your case to court if the matter proceeds to that point, you should have an attorney safeguarding your interests every step of the way. Call now to discuss your burn injury claim with Ostroff Godshall Injury and Accident Lawyers.
