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- Wilkes-Barre
- 15 South Franklin Street
- Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711
- TEL: 570.826.5600
- FAX: 570.826.5640
- [ Maps/Directions ]
- Scranton
- 120 Wyoming Avenue
- Scranton, PA 18503
- TEL: 570.341.5600
- FAX: 570.347.9883
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- Hazleton
- 120 East Broad Street
- West Hazleton, PA 18202
- TEL: 570.455.7112
- FAX: 570.455.8304
- [ Maps/Directions ]
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Wilkes-Barre and Scranton Law Firm: Burn Injury Lawyers
A serious burn injury can cause major, permanent damage to its victim. Major burns often lead to death, either immediately or as a result of infections that set in after the immune system has been weakened. Those who do survive often face permanent damage, including scarring and disfigurement. At our law firm in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, our burn injury lawyers believe that victims of serious burns resulting from another's negligence deserve compensation for their injuries. Please take a moment to learn more about how we can help.
Burn Injury Classifications
The damage caused by a burn injury varies greatly depending on the severity of the incident causing it. These incidents most often involve the victim being exposed to fire or an extremely hot object or liquid, but chemicals and severe cold can also cause burns. A first degree burn usually is not considered a major injury, causing only minor discomfort, redness, and tissue loss on the uppermost layer of the skin. A second degree burn may or may not constitute a medical emergency; the pain caused by the injury may be troublesome, blisters will form, and scars may be left, but the body’s vital functions are not usually threatened. Third degree and worse burns may cause significant problems. The burn injury may extend beyond the skin into the muscle or even the bone beneath, resulting in major scarring and harm to internal organs. Damage to the nerves in the affected area can also be extensive.
Long-Term Effects of Burn Injury
As the burn injury becomes more severe, the long-term effects become much more serious. Lost skin leaves the body vulnerable to infection, and damage to internal organs may mean decreased mobility and quality of life. Damage to the lungs from inhaling superheated air can very quickly reach critical levels. An intense burn injury may even bring on death. Since scar tissue usually replaces lost skin, permanent disfigurement is a significant problem for victims of extensive external burn injury. Though new medical methods are always being developed, all of these problems continue to affect many victims to this day. Serving Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, our burn injury lawyers seek to help burn victims with whatever legal services they may need to deal with the long-term effects of their injuries.
Moving Past Burn Injury
Though some of the effects of a severe burn injury are likely to linger on throughout the victim’s life, modern medicine can mitigate many of them. In particular, skin grafts, in which skin is taken from a donor or another area of a patient’s body and used to replace burned areas, can reduce scarring and restore a semblance of a normal appearance. Still a severe burn injury remains a debilitating event.
In some cases, a burn injury may be attributed to irresponsible behavior by some party other than the victim. A car accident, truck accident, or the failure of a defective product may all expose innocent people to fire or burning chemicals, leaving them with serious and permanent harm. As a burn injury often involves significant lost working time and personal suffering, financial restitution is both deserved and necessary in these cases. A successful lawsuit can help the victim pay for medical expenses, make up for lost wages, reimburse legal costs, and gain closure, as well as discourage further negligent behavior through punitive damages. If you have suffered as a result of major burns, please contact our firm in Hazleton, Scranton, or Wilkes-Barre to speak with our burn injury lawyers about your options for legal recourse.