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Personal Injury and Wrongful Death

Burn Victim Compensation for
Pain and Suffering

Attorney David Szerlag recently recovered 2.4 million dollars in a boiler explosion case. Attorney Fred Pritzker recently recovered 2.9 million dollars in an apartment fire case. To contact a burn injury lawyer at the firm about fire burn pain and suffering compensation, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our online form for a free consultation.

A severe burn injury can drastically change all aspects of one’s life at once, from physical abilities to eating habits to sexual activity to causing permanent disabilities or disfiguration, not to mention the burn itself and the incident that caused it. Throw into the mix a long hospital stay and long-lasting pain, and a burn can have drastic affects on one’s psychological and emotional well-being.

If you or a loved one has been burned, contact our law firm about compensation for any of the following:

Pain and suffering, which includes disfigurement and emotional distress
Medical expenses
Loss of income
Other damages.

If someone was at fault for the burn injury, you have a right to seek compensation from that party. Read more about a burn injury lawsuit.

Burn Victim Compensation
Pain and Suffering

In a burn injury lawsuit "pain and suffering" would include any pain, disability, disfigurement, embarrassment, or emotional distress that the burn victim has experienced up to the time of your verdict or will experience in the future.

It is difficult to put an exact value on these items, but our lawyers are experienced at obtaining significant awards for pain and suffering. Some of the factors we will consider when building your case:

The type, extent, and severity of your burn injuries;
How painful your burn injuries were, are and will be;
Your burn treatments and the pain involved in those treatments (we know the pain is incomprehensible);
The fact that you will never totally recover from your burn injuries because there will be permanent disfigurement;
The extent of your permanent disfigurement;
The extent of your permanent disability (burn victims usually have some permanent disability);
Your emotional distess.

Read about the phases of burn pain.

Burn Victim Compensation
Pain and Suffering and the Phases of Burn Recovery

There are three general stages of psychological phases/recovery that loosely correlate with the three stages of physical recovery from a severe burn injury. Our lawyers will consider each of these phases as they put together the emotional distess part of your case:

1. Resuscitative Phase

The first stage is during the initial, resuscitative phase 48-72 hours after the injury. This period can be particularly difficult for both patients and their families. The patient is mainly concerned with survival and is usually heavily medicated and may be in a state of delirium. Symptoms of delirium include reduced consciousness, attention shifts, distractibility, and confusion.

One way to help a burn victim adjust to the environment and feel comfortable is by keeping family and friends close. However, this can be a two-way-street because if family seems stressed-out and worried, the victim may begin to reflect those emotions.

2. Acute Rehabilitation

This is the phase after the patient is stable, but still at the hospital healing. Depending on the patient, the victim may improve psychologically naturally as normal function increases and pain decreases. However, during this period, the burn victim may undergo painful procedures and begin to realize the losses and changes in his or her life that will result from the burn.

The most common psychological responses include grief, depression, anxiety and acute stress disorder. Grief is a natural reaction to a severe burn injury and usually goes away with time as basic functions and independent living are restored.

Depression is more severe than grief; its symptoms include depressed mood, loss of pleasure, decrease or increase in appetite, sleep difficulties, loss of energy, difficulty thinking, or recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. Depending on the severity of depression, counseling or antidepressant medication may be necessary. A particular phenomenon, know as the “loss of will to live” or “death wish” is occasionally associated with severe burn injury patients; mortality rates are especially high when this phenomenon occurs, so immediate treatment should begin if a patient expresses a wish to die.

Other psychological symptoms may include nightmares, sleep difficulties, behavioral regression (behaving as a child), hostility, anger, dependence, or inappropriate sexual behavior.

In this stage as well, the family and friends of the burn victim can play a vital role in maintaining the psychological well being of the patient by being supportive. Also, the family will learn what care the burned family member will need at home.

3. Long-term Rehabilitation

The long-term rehabilitation phase has its own unique psychological problems, beginning after a patient leaves the hospital. During this period, the burn victim must learn how to function in society again and take care of themselves. Usually, the problems involve educational or work-related difficulties or emotional problems such as depression.

Sources:
1. Brezel BS, Kassenbrock JM, Stein JM: Burns in substance abusers and in neurologically and mentally impaired patients, Journal of Burn Care Rehabilitation 9:169-171, 1988.
2. Perez JJP, Gomez BGJ, Lopez-Castillo JJ et al: Psychiatric consultation and post-traumatic stress disorder in burned patients, Burns 20(6):532-536, 1994.
3. Rockwell E, Dimsdale JE, Carroll W, Hansbrough J: Preexisting psychiatric disorders in burn patients, Journal of Burn Care Rehabiltiation 9(1):83-86, 1988.
4. Haum A, Perbix W, Hack HJ et al: Alcohol and drug abuse in burn injuries, Burns 21(3):194-199, 1995.
5. Daniels SM, Fenley JD, Powers PS, Cruse PW: Self-inflicted burns: a ten-year retrospective study, Journal of Burn Care Rehabilitation 12(2):144-147, 1991.
6. Duminy FJ, Hudson DA: Assault inflicted by hot water, Burns 19(5)426-428, 1993.
7. Hanson M, Mackay S, Atkinson L et al: Firesetting during the preschool period: assessment and intervention issues Canadian Journal of Psychiatry 40(6):299-303, 1995.
8. Perry S, Difede J, Musngi G et al: Predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder after burn injury, American Journal of Psychiatry 149(7):931-935, 1992.
9. Carrougher, Gretchern J. (1998). Burn Care and Therapy. St. Louis: Mosby Inc.

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Burn Injury Compensation

Medical expenses
Pain and suffering, including physical pain, suffering, emotional distress, disfigurment, disability, mental impairment
Lost earnings, including lost potential earnings
Cost of care

Burn Attorney

Information on a burn injury lawsuit, including liability of any of the following:

An employer
A property owner
The owner of a vehicle
The driver of a vehicle
A manufacturer
A utility company
A propane company
A person who serviced a propane tank, vehicle, piece of equipment, etc.
A landlord
An insurance company

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