Miami Burn Injury Lawyer
Severe burns can be among the most painful and medically complicated catastrophic injuries. A burn survivor may endure emergency treatment, wound debridement, skin grafting, reconstructive procedures, infection risks, physical therapy, and repeated surgeries. Even after the wounds close, permanent scarring, contractures, nerve damage, chronic pain, and disfigurement can remain.
For some survivors, recovery continues for years.
Burn injuries can also affect a person in ways that cannot be measured by hospital bills. Visible scarring may change how someone feels about appearance and social interactions. Damage around joints can restrict movement. Burns to the hands can interfere with work and everyday tasks. Severe injuries can make returning to a former career impossible.
Sotolongo Law represents burn injury victims throughout Miami, Miami-Dade County, and South Florida. Our firm handles catastrophic injury claims arising from car accidents, commercial truck crashes, dangerous property conditions, medical negligence, and other preventable incidents.
Miami burn injury lawyer Pedro P. Sotolongo has more than 20 years of personal injury legal experience and previously spent approximately five years practicing medical malpractice defense. That combination of legal and medical experience helps the firm understand not simply how a burn occurred, but what the injury may mean for a client’s health and future.
Understanding the Severity of Burn Injuries
Not all burns are alike. Physicians evaluate several factors when determining severity, including how deeply the tissue has been damaged, the percentage of the body affected, the location of the burns, the patient’s age and health, and whether other injuries occurred at the same time.
Burns are commonly classified according to depth. Superficial burns affect the outer layer of skin. Partial-thickness burns extend deeper into the skin and can produce blistering, significant pain, and scarring. Full-thickness burns destroy the full depth of the skin and may damage underlying tissues. Extremely severe burns can extend into fat, muscle, or even bone.
Doctors may also evaluate the percentage of total body surface area, or TBSA, affected by the burns. This measurement can influence treatment decisions and help describe the overall severity of an injury.
Location matters as well. Burns involving the face, hands, feet, major joints, or other sensitive areas can produce substantial functional or cosmetic consequences even when they cover a relatively limited portion of the body.
Car Accidents, Vehicle Fires, and Thermal Burns
A serious motor vehicle crash can expose occupants to fire, hot fluids, electrical systems, chemicals, or other sources of burn injury.
Vehicle fires can be particularly dangerous when a collision leaves an occupant trapped inside the passenger compartment. A person who cannot immediately escape may suffer extensive burns in addition to fractures, brain trauma, spinal injuries, or other crash-related harm.
The investigation of a post-collision fire may require careful examination of how the crash occurred and how the fire began.
Depending on the facts, liability may involve a negligent driver or another party responsible for the collision. In certain cases, questions concerning a vehicle or component may also require investigation.
Evidence from the scene can disappear quickly. Burned vehicles may be moved, salvaged, or destroyed, making early preservation of physical evidence particularly important when the origin or progression of a vehicle fire is disputed.
Burn Injuries in Commercial Truck Accidents
Truck accidents can present additional fire and burn hazards.
A tractor-trailer carries large quantities of fuel, and a severe collision can rupture fuel systems and ignite a fire. Commercial vehicles may also transport chemicals, fuel, or other hazardous materials capable of causing thermal or chemical burns.
A crash involving a tanker or hazardous cargo can affect not only vehicle occupants but also motorists, pedestrians, emergency responders, and others near the collision.
Truck accident investigations may involve the driver’s conduct, motor carrier practices, maintenance, cargo loading, hazardous-material handling, vehicle condition, and other issues depending on the circumstances.
When a commercial truck crash results in catastrophic burns, identifying every responsible party can become particularly important because treatment, rehabilitation, and future surgeries may create substantial lifetime costs.
Chemical, Electrical, and Other Serious Burns
Fire is only one cause of severe burns.
Chemical burns can occur when skin or eyes come into contact with corrosive substances. The severity may depend on the particular chemical, its concentration, how long the exposure continued, and how quickly appropriate decontamination occurred.
Electrical injuries can damage tissue as electrical current passes through the body. The visible skin wounds do not always reveal the full extent of internal damage.
Burn injuries may also result from scalding liquids or steam. Depending on the circumstances, dangerous conditions on commercial or residential property, defective equipment, workplace incidents, or other forms of negligence can contribute to serious burn injuries.
Determining exactly how an injury occurred is important because the mechanism of the burn may identify both the responsible parties and the evidence necessary to establish liability.
Burn Injuries Caused by Medical Negligence
Burns can sometimes occur while a patient is receiving medical care. Depending on the circumstances, injuries may involve surgical equipment, electrosurgical devices, warming equipment, heated materials, chemicals, lasers, or other devices used during treatment.
Operating room fires are another potential source of catastrophic injury. These events can involve an interaction among an ignition source, an oxidizer such as oxygen, and combustible materials in the surgical environment.
Pedro P. Sotolongo’s approximately five years of medical malpractice defense experience gives him a valuable background for evaluating injury claims involving medical negligence. His work required him to understand medical records, treatment decisions, expert testimony, and the defense strategies used in complex malpractice litigation. Today, Sotolongo Law uses that experience to represent injured patients.
Skin Grafts, Surgery, and Long-Term Treatment
Severe burns often require treatment extending well beyond the initial emergency hospitalization.
Dead or damaged tissue may need to be removed through debridement. Some wounds require skin grafting, in which healthy skin is transferred to the burned area to assist healing.
A skin graft can create two areas requiring care: the original burn and the donor site from which the graft was taken.
Patients with extensive burns may undergo multiple procedures. Later surgeries can address scar tissue, contractures, functional limitations, or disfigurement. Plastic and reconstructive surgeons may become involved in treatment months or years after the initial injury.
Physical and occupational therapy can also be essential. As burn scars mature, tissue may tighten and restrict movement, particularly when burns cross a joint. Therapy, splinting, and surgery may be necessary to preserve or restore range of motion.
A burn injury claim should therefore account for reasonably anticipated future treatment rather than stopping at the cost of the initial hospitalization.
Scarring, Contractures, and Disfigurement
For many burn survivors, scars become a permanent reminder of the event. Hypertrophic or other significant scars can become raised, thickened, painful, sensitive, or restrictive. Scar tissue crossing a joint may contract as it heals, limiting movement. Burns involving the hands can interfere with dexterity and grip, while injuries to the neck or other areas can restrict motion.
Facial burns can present additional concerns because of their visibility and potential effects on the eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and facial movement.
Disfigurement has consequences beyond appearance. It may affect confidence, relationships, social interactions, and employment. Some survivors become uncomfortable in public settings or experience unwanted attention because of visible scars.
When evaluating damages, these consequences deserve the same careful documentation as medical treatment and lost wages.
The Psychological Impact of Severe Burns
The emotional consequences of catastrophic burns can be substantial.
A survivor may remember being trapped in a burning vehicle or experiencing intense pain during the accident and its aftermath. Medical treatment itself can involve repeated painful procedures and lengthy hospitalization.
Some people experience anxiety, depression, sleep problems, fear associated with driving or fire, or symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Visible scarring and changes in appearance can create additional psychological challenges.
Children and young adults who sustain permanent burns may face those issues during important developmental and social stages of life.
Appropriate psychological or psychiatric treatment can be part of recovery, and the need for such care may also be relevant when evaluating the future consequences of the injury.
Calculating the Full Cost of a Serious Burn Injury
The financial impact of catastrophic burns can continue for years or a lifetime.
Damages may include emergency care, hospitalization, burn-center treatment, debridement, skin grafting, reconstructive surgery, medications, rehabilitation, psychological treatment, and future medical procedures.
A person may also lose substantial income during recovery. Permanent limitations to the hands, arms, legs, or other areas can prevent a return to physically demanding occupations. Visible disfigurement or other functional impairments may affect employment in additional ways.
In a serious case, attorneys may work with burn specialists, plastic or reconstructive surgeons, rehabilitation professionals, vocational experts, life-care planners, economists, and other professionals to understand these losses.
The objective is to evaluate the injury over the person’s expected lifetime rather than assume the financial consequences end when the wounds close.
Preparing to Meet Insurance Company Defenses
Even when the existence of a serious burn is undeniable, defendants can dispute responsibility and damages.
An insurer may challenge how the accident happened, blame another party, question whether particular surgeries are necessary, dispute future treatment recommendations, or argue that the injured person has recovered more completely than claimed.
When a medical malpractice case is involved, the defense may argue that the injury was a recognized complication rather than the result of negligence.
Sotolongo Law approaches these cases with an understanding that serious injuries require serious preparation. Medical records, photographs, expert evaluations, accident evidence, employment information, and documentation of the client’s daily limitations can all contribute to presenting the complete claim.
A Boutique Firm for Catastrophic Burn Cases in Miami
Sotolongo Law provides the personal attention of a boutique Miami injury firm while pursuing claims against major insurers, trucking companies, healthcare providers, corporations, and other defendants.
Pedro P. Sotolongo has more than two decades of personal injury experience, including approximately five years defending medical malpractice claims, developing experience with complicated medical evidence and expert witnesses.
That medical background is especially useful in burn cases involving extensive treatment, multiple specialties, future surgeries, and disputes about prognosis.
Sotolongo Law also proudly serves Miami’s Spanish-speaking communities, including Cuban, Venezuelan, Nicaraguan, Argentinian, and other families throughout South Florida. Serious burn injuries can require complicated decisions about medical care and litigation, and clients should be able to discuss those issues in a language in which they are comfortable.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does total body surface area mean in a burn injury case?
Total body surface area, often abbreviated TBSA, describes the percentage of the body affected by burns of relevant severity. Medical professionals use established methods to estimate this percentage. TBSA is one factor used to evaluate the seriousness of a burn and may influence treatment, prognosis, and the evidence presented in a legal claim.
Can I recover damages for permanent burn scars even if they do not prevent me from working?
Permanent scarring and disfigurement may be relevant damages even when a person remains capable of employment. The analysis can include the location and visibility of the scars, physical discomfort, functional limitations, and the ways permanent disfigurement affects the person’s life.
Why do some burn victims need additional surgery years after the accident?
Burn scars can change as they mature. Contractures may restrict movement, and reconstructive procedures may be recommended to improve function or address significant scarring. The possibility of future procedures should be evaluated before resolving a serious burn injury claim.
Can photographs be important evidence in a burn injury case?
Yes. Burns can change dramatically during healing, and later scars may not fully demonstrate what a person endured during the acute stages of the injury. When appropriately preserved, photographs can document the progression of wounds, grafting, healing, and permanent scarring.
Can a burn during surgery or another medical procedure be malpractice?
Potentially. A burn occurring during medical care does not automatically establish negligence. A medical malpractice claim generally requires evidence that a healthcare provider violated the applicable professional standard of care and that the violation caused the burn. Expert medical review is often necessary to make that determination.
Contact a Miami Burn Injury Lawyer
Severe burns do not end when a patient leaves the hospital. Scars, contractures, pain, psychological trauma, reconstructive procedures, and functional limitations can follow a survivor for years or a lifetime.
Sotolongo Law represents people with serious burn injuries throughout Miami, Miami-Dade County, and South Florida. We combine the personal attention of a boutique firm with more than 20 years of personal injury experience and a medical background that helps us understand the complicated treatment and future needs associated with catastrophic burns.
If you or a family member suffered severe burns in a car accident, commercial truck crash, medical procedure, or another incident caused by negligence, contact Sotolongo Law for a free consultation.
Our firm does not collect an attorney’s fee unless we obtain a recovery on your behalf. Because We Care®.