Burn Injury Lawsuit —Let’s Explore Some Common Causes of Burn Injuries

By Clarence Colburn 9 months ago

Burn injuries are severe medical conditions that can be fatal or have catastrophic impacts on a victim and their family’s lives. Burn injury victims deal with emotional pain even long after the incident. Burn injuries can permanently change things for the victim and cause physical and mental pain for very long.

The recovery time and medical bills depend on the degree of burns. Burn injuries are divided into four degrees that help with telling the severity of the burns, with the lowest being first-degree burns and the highest being fourth-degree burns. If you incur burn injuries due to someone else’s negligence, you can speak to an Ontario, CA personal injury lawyer.

Common causes of burn injuries

Burn injury treatment costs are so expensive it is very rare that an insurance company settlement is enough to cover the medical bills. According to the ABA (American Burn Association), about 486,000 individuals get treated for burn injuries annually. Burn injuries can happen from different incidents. Some of them are:

  1. Fires. Fires are one of the most common and leading causes of burn injuries in the United States. About 43% of burn injury cases between the years 2005 and 2014 were due to fires. If you incurred burn injuries in an apartment or hotel fire, you can sue the landlord or the owner to pay for your damages.
  2. Auto accidents. Vehicle crashes expose vehicles to smoke inhalation, explosions, and heat exposure, all of which can cause burns. If you receive burn injuries from an accident due to someone else’s fault, you are legally allowed to hold the driver responsible and sue them.
  3. Falling off a bike or motorcycle. Falling off a bike or motorcycle can cause friction burns. The most common friction burn a bicycle or motorbike accident can cause is severe road rashes that are extremely painful and need immediate treatment.
  4. Defective products. Defective products have the potential to cause burn injuries by creating sparks, combusting, or overheating. You can sue the manufacturer by filing a product liability claim if you receive burn injuries from a defective product.
  5. Workplace fires. Each year, around 3,340 fires occur in the US in workplace environments. One hundred fifteen employees died due to fires and explosions in 2018 alone. Workplace injuries are eligible for workers’ compensation benefits. In addition to that, you can file a lawsuit against any third-party entity that was involved in causing your injuries.
  6. Oil field accidents. Oil fields are one of the most dangerous work sites. Oil and gas extracting companies had 74% of deaths out of all fatalities caused in the mining sector in 2015 alone.