Of all car accident injuries, burn injuries can be especially traumatic and painful. Burn injuries occur in car collisions when a car catches on fire, burning a passenger or driver. Burn injuries range from relatively mild localized burns to severe burns that cover much of a patient’s body.
There is a great deal of physical pain associated with burn injuries. In cases where the skin is deeply burned, the muscles and joints may be affected as well, and these can ache very severely for much of the recovery period. In some cases, clothing or other items are actually fused into the skin during a car fire, and removal of these items is painful. Many severe burn injuries affect the muscles and tendons of the body, and this can inhibit movement or make movement extremely painful.
In addition to the physical pain of a burn injury, most patients also suffer severe emotional distress. Burns cause severe disfigurement and in some cases can cause not only surface tissue damage but can literally melt away hair or can cause a patient to lose a nose or fingers. Some of these injuries can be permanent. Many patients suffer terrible distress the first time they are allowed to see themselves after a burn injury. Many feel anger or depression and some patients become isolated. Some patients do not feel able to return to work and some avoid contact with others because of the way that a few rude people behave around their injuries.
Unfortunately, one of the main treatments for burn victims is cosmetic surgery to restore the skin and facial or bone structure. Cosmetic surgery can be painful and it can take several procedures for a patient with severe burns to see any results. Worse, most medical insurance providers do not cover cosmetic surgery, which means that patients often feel that they have to pay the costs out of pocket, even if the surgery is necessary because the patients feel depressed and isolated without it.
Burn injuries can take years of recovery time, long hospital stays, and many hours of lost work time and lost wages. Many patients also need expensive pain medication and therapy – which is also not covered by most medical insurance – in order to get back on track.
Florida laws do have provisions for patients with burn injuries. If someone’s negligence or recklessness has caused a car accident that has caused your burn injury, Florida law allows you to seek assistance with all the costs associated with your injury. Many patients are hesitant to seek legal assistance, but without this help you could face hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. By law, you may be entitled to have those bills paid in full or in part. If you are not sure whether you have a claim, contact a qualified Florida attorney.