As people get older they can become a bit more prone to accidents. Unfortunately, once an injury has occurred, seniors also take longer to recover. This prolonged healing time is especially hazardous when a burn injury has been suffered.
Elderly victims will need a longer stay in a hospital to fully recover and more intensive treatment to avoid other complications. These vulnerabilities make it all the more important that victims receive the support they need after a personal injury accident.
When someone’s negligence causes an older victim to suffer burn injuries, that at-fault party should be held fully accountable through each stage of recovery.
Contact a Burn Injury Lawyer for a Free Consultation
When an at-fault party’s negligence is responsible for an accident that results in burn injuries, elderly victims and their families should never be left to face the consequences alone.
A California Traumatic Injury Lawyer protects older victims and their loved ones during burn injury settlement negotiations to make sure victims and families receive everything needed in recovery. Contact Maison Law to schedule a free case consultation and find out what level of support you should be demanding for a burn injury.
California Burn Injury Dangers for the Elderly
Older victims can suffer burn injuries in many different types of accidents. Car accidents are one of the most common ways victims are burned. A vehicle can catch fire and elderly people may have difficulties getting out of their vehicles in time to avoid injuries. Victims might also be pressed against a superheated metal in a collision.
A fire may be started by a faulty cord or mechanism on an appliance in the victim’s house or condo. This would leave a manufacturer liable for all damages caused.
Elderly people might receive skin damage after being scalded by food or coffee that’s served up too hot in an assisted-living community or at a local breakfast spot. Victims could receive electrical burns when exposed to frayed wires or a malfunctioning machine during a medical appointment.
A victim could receive a chemical burn while out shopping after getting exposed to a strong cleaner or industrial-strength solution at a place like Walmart or Target.
Who Is Responsible for a Burn Injury in California?
Victims should receive support for the best care available after these careless accidents. And the support should come directly from the at-fault party’s insurance provider. That at-fault party may be a reckless driver, a negligent management group at a retirement facility, or even a national corporation behind a harmful product or a chain of grocery stores.
Car insurance companies and commercial liability insurance policies can be called upon to provide support. However, they won’t pay a dime if you can prove a careless party was at-fault. That’s why having a California Burn Injury Lawyer on your side is so critical to the success of your injury claim. Your lawyer investigates your case and gathers so much evidence that insurance companies are forced to do the right thing and provide you with a settlement check.
Burn Injury Complications for Vulnerable California Seniors
The situations mentioned above and other hazards could leave any victim down for weeks or months struggling to recover. The dangers are even more concerning for elderly victims because any health issues they are already suffering from can be made worse by a burn. Their skin is also thinner and slower to heal, and any burn can create a wound that’s that much worse.
Serious burns slow down a patient’s immune system. Infections are particularly dangerous for older burn injury patients. Their bodies are unable to fight infections as well. Pneumonia, sepsis, and urinary infections are common.
Electrical burns can disrupt a patient’s heart rhythm and getting it back to normal might be very difficult for an older burn victim. The heart and lungs are taxed even more when a burn injury occurs and that increased workload can lead to heart attacks.
While victims are in a hospital bed at a burn center, that inactivity can lead to other health problems. These and other scary complications make it all the more important that seniors suffering from burns are allowed to focus on healing rather than worrying over the cost of medical treatment.
Compensation Available for Elderly Burn Victims
Elderly burn patients may spend weeks or months in a hospital bed, in intensive care, or at one of California’s certified burn centers. The cost of this care and any time in physical therapy may run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Victims will, understandably, not want these costs to fall on their families and they shouldn’t.
A California burn injury attorney will be compiling a thorough list of every hardship a victim has faced. This list will be submitted when filing an injury claim with an insurance company. Every damage must be included on this list because anything that doesn’t ends up as a bill the victim has to pay.
These and other factors will be listed in an insurance claim and will determine the size of a burn injury insurance settlement:
- Totals on medical bills.
- Rehab and physical therapy expenses and money for medical equipment needed.
- Lifelong cost estimates for a permanent disability or disfigurement.
- Support to cover a move to an assisted living facility providing a higher degree of care.
- Pain and suffering. Support for the non-economic damages caused such as the pain a patient must endure. This also involves emotional trauma an elderly burn victim may face.
- Loss of enjoyment of life. The loss of the ability to enjoy family activities or time with a spouse.
- Travel costs to medical appointments while burn victims are off their feet.
- Wrongful death benefits. Benefits are available to family members who have lost an older loved one who suffered a severe burn injury. Close relatives can secure support to pay for a funeral and burial. They should receive economic assistance with paying for leftover medical bills. Families can also seek support for the guidance and financial support that will no longer be available from the deceased in the future.
Contact a California Burn Injury Lawyer Serving Elderly Victims
Martin Gasparian, the founder of Maison Law, provides a free and confidential consultation to all burn injury victims and their families. Mr. Gasparian provides this no-risk opportunity so that elderly victims and their loved ones can stay informed of the benefits available to them after an accident.
At Maison Law, we understand the special concerns family members will have after a loved one has suffered harm due to someone’s careless act. We work to make sure patients and their families have everything they need to make a complete recovery and rebuild their lives.
We also hold insurance companies fully accountable and don’t let them find ways to devalue an injury claim involving an older patient. Contact Martin Gasparian to schedule a no-obligation consultation today.
