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Every year, more than 450,000 people in the United States suffer from serious burn injuries that often require medical attention and extensive hospitalization. These burns can permanently impact an injured person’s life through disfiguring scars and lingering pain, and the financial costs of recovery can be overwhelming.
If another person’s negligence caused your burn injury, you may be eligible to hold them financially accountable for damages with the help of an attorney. A Chattanooga burn injury lawyer could assess your situation and help you file a successful lawsuit to obtain compensation for your suffering.
To have a successful burn injury claim, the victim must be able to prove the requirements set out under Tennessee law. The most important elements to establish are that the defendant owed a duty to the burn victim, that the defendant breached their duty, that the breached duty caused an accident capable of causing burns, and that the plaintiff suffered actual harm as a result of the accident.
It can be challenging to attribute a dollar value to a burn injury claim in Chattanooga, but a skilled lawyer with burn injury experience could analyze the damages a plaintiff has suffered and provide a reasonable estimate. Some of the things for which an injured person may seek to recover include medical bills, anticipated medical expenses, reconstructive surgeries, lost income, and pain and suffering.
In burn injury cases, the most common causes include contact with extremely hot surfaces, motor vehicle accidents, fires, electrical burns, exposure to caustic chemicals, product defects, steam exposure, contact with boiling liquids, and explosions. Sometimes, more than one cause will contribute to a person’s injury and resulting liability for compensating the injured party. A burn injury attorney in Chattanooga could help a victim determine who may be responsible.
Burn injuries are usually classified as one of four degrees of severity:
Severe burns increase the risk of disfigurement, infections such as pneumonia and sepsis, nerve loss, limb loss, decreased mobility, permanent disability, and death. When a person suffers burns, their body undergoes an inflammatory response to minimize damage. However, in the case of burns that affect a large surface area, the body may overreact and the inflammatory response may cause extensive damage to the victim’s organs, especially the heart, brain, lungs, and kidneys.
Under the Tennessee Products Liability Act of 1978, an individual may bring a lawsuit for any death, property damage, or injury that results from a product’s design, manufacturing, labeling, or marketing within six years of the injury, with limited exceptions. Examples of consumer items that may give rise to a products liability claim relating to burn injuries include malfunctioning space heaters, electric blankets, coffee makers, and other sources of high heat.
Especially in cases where a burn was caused by another person’s negligence or bad actions, there are many different parties who could be held liable. A Chattanooga burn injury lawyer could help you identify who may be at fault, how to best seek compensation in a lawsuit, and the amount of compensation to pursue.
Once you and your attorney can establish who is at fault and produce evidence demonstrating that the at-fault party’s negligence or intentional actions caused your burns, you may increase your chances of collecting sufficient compensation for your losses. Call today to learn more.