How are burn injury settlements valued in the US?
Burn settlements combine economic damages (emergency care, ICU, multiple graft surgeries, future reconstruction, lost income) with large non-economic damages for pain, disfigurement, and emotional distress. Value scales with burn degree, total body surface area (TBSA), location, scarring permanence, and the number of surgeries. Serious burns are among the highest-value personal injury claims.
What determines the severity of a burn claim?
Burn degree (second, third, fourth), the percentage of total body surface area (TBSA) burned, whether burns affect visible or functional areas (face, hands), the permanence of scarring and disfigurement, required surgeries and skin grafts, and psychological impact such as PTSD and depression. Higher severity drives both medical costs and non-economic damages.
Who is liable for a burn injury?
Potential defendants include negligent drivers, property owners (unsafe conditions, fire-code violations), product manufacturers (defective appliances, flammable products, e-cigarette batteries), employers (though workers' comp may be the exclusive remedy), and utility or contractor negligence. Product liability and premises liability are frequent theories.
Do damage caps apply to burn injuries?
Economic damages (medical bills, lost wages, future care) are almost never capped. Non-economic caps generally apply only to medical malpractice, not ordinary injury claims, though a few states cap non-economic damages more broadly. Because burn cases often involve enormous economic damages, caps have less impact than in other injury types.