Many of us have suffered burns while cooking at home, due to overexposure to the sun, or while working with chemicals. Such household burns can hurt, but they are minor and do not penetrate the skin. For minor burns, skin creams, and antibiotics are beneficial, helping us move on with our lives.
For others, however, the burns they sustain in car accidents, house fires, or workplace accidents are severe and even fatal. With prompt medical treatment, accident victims often survive but are left with significant and long-term medical bills. Severe burn injuries are full of complications, from physical to medical to even psychological. A severely burned accident victim in Louisiana can also end up temporarily or permanently disabled and suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Burn injury treatment is costly. This is why you should seek medical care as soon as possible before your condition worsens and consult an experienced burn injury lawyer to understand the long-term costs of your injury.
Types of Burns
Heat, chemicals, electricity, and radiation can cause severe burn injuries. If you sustain an injury, seeking immediate medical treatment is crucial. At the hospital, your doctor will run tests to determine the severity of your injury and the type of burn injury you have sustained. The types include:
First-Degree Burns
Also known as superficial burns, first-degree burns affect the outer layer of the skin, the epidermis. The skin’s top layer usually turns red but doesn’t typically blister. Mild sunburn is an example of a superficial burn.
Second-Degree Burns
These burns affect the epidermis and part of the dermis. A burn victim can experience redness, pain, blistering, and swelling.
Third-Degree Burns
These full-thickness burns affect all skin layers and destroy sweat glands and hair follicles. Victims typically don’t feel pain in the burned area since third-degree burns damage nerve endings. These burns also damage the underlying tendons, bones, and muscles. When this happens, the burn is called a fourth-degree burn.
Burn Injuries That Generate High Medical Bills
Severe burns, such as third-degree burns, damage many bodily systems and can create multiple medical complications, making the treatment of burn injuries expensive. Injuries that burn victims in Louisiana sustain include:
- Skin damage and loss
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Nerve damage
- Soft tissue damage
- Damage to bones
- Loss of vision
- Contracture: a shortening and hardening of muscles, tendons, or other tissue
- Internal organ damage, such as lung, liver, and spleen damage
Various medical specialists treat and manage severe burn injuries, including:
- Surgeons, such as reconstructive and plastic surgeons
- Pain management specialists
- Anesthesiologists
- Wound care professionals
- Mental health professionals
- Therapists, including physical, speech, and occupational, depending on the nature and extent of injuries
- Social workers
Long-Term Costs of Severe Burns
When accident victims suffer burns, they experience debilitating physical injuries that require medical intervention. If burns require treatment, medical bills accumulate, often in proportion to the injury’s severity. If the injury is catastrophic or becomes infected, patients may pay more cash to receive treatment, with a high possibility of ongoing treatments and therapies.
Severe burn injuries from auto and workplace accidents typically require hospitalization. According to the Louisiana Department of Health, there were an average of 38 in-patient hospitalizations for work-related burns from 2015 to 2019. The department reports that work-related burns are the most common cause of work-related hospitalization for young workers. It’s important to note that hospital stays for burn-related injuries cost twice the average of all other hospital stays — $24,000.
Even low-intensity treatment procedures for mild to moderate burns can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. For severe, catastrophic burn injuries without complications, injured victims can incur expenses well beyond $1 million. For third- and fourth-degree burns with complications, medical bills for treatment and management can exceed $10 million.
Burn victims can require respiratory intubation, skin grafting, blood transfusion, and laboratory services, mainly when the burns cover a significant part of their bodies and are severe. The costs of such procedures can add up quickly, resulting in expensive medical bills.
The long-term cost of burns depends on several factors, including how long one stays in the hospital. For severe burns, a patient can remain in the hospital for months as doctors treat, manage, and observe improvements in their condition. Another critical factor is the severity and nature of the injury. For example, a patient whose lung damage is extensive due to smoke inhalation and who requires a lung transplant will have to stay longer in the hospital and incur more medical bills.
Once a patient is released from the hospital, the doctor may recommend rehabilitation, physical therapy sessions, and psychiatric counseling, which are typically costly for the burn victim.
Non-Medical Costs After a Burn Injury
The skin is the body’s largest organ, comprising roughly 16% of its mass. It is also one of the first things family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and strangers notice. Burn injuries cause not only physical damage but also emotional trauma when patients deal with changes in their appearance and physical abilities.
After a burn victim is released, their home or family vehicle may require costly modifications. Medical equipment such as wheelchairs, prosthetics, and orthotics, along with hiring caregivers, can also lead to mounting bills.
If the burn victim is permanently disabled, lost income and their loss of earning capacity can be a significant problem. They risk losing their wages, benefits, bonuses, and commissions. When the burn victim is the breadwinner, everyone suffers financially.
Burn injuries are also excruciating, which can lead to tremendous suffering for the patient. While it is hard to put a monetary value on one’s emotional suffering, a burn injury lawyer can help you understand how pain and suffering fit into your personal injury case.
Medical Help After Sustaining a Burn Injury
Seek immediate medical attention if:
- Your burn is severe
- The burn area is massive — the size of your hand or larger
- The burn is caused by electricity or chemicals
- You inhaled smoke
- There are signs of shock
Beyond healing from a burn injury, an accident victim should seek legal counsel and representation if another party’s negligence led to their injuries and damages. An experienced burn injury attorney can protect your rights and push for financial compensation that reflects your damages, including medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
