In the year 2000, the National Business Group on Health reported that burn injuries and fires caused $6.2 billion in productivity losses, which includes time off for recovery, or forced early retirement due to serious injury. Adjusted for inflation, that's roughly $9.4 billion in 2021 dollars. Burn injuries caused the most losses among men between 24 and 44 and women between 45 and 64.

Additionally, the total hospital treatments for all burn injuries is roughly $10 billion a year. Treatment costs beyond initial hospitalization can rise exponentially as victims deal with complications like infections, necrosis, and other life-altering effects of burn injuries. Given these statistics, a working person can expect to lose nearly as much in wages as they must spend on medical care.

5 Most Common Burn Injury Complications

Burn injuries often result from life-threatening events like fires or explosions, but even after the initial event is over, severe burns remain serious threats. Burns leaves the body vulnerable to infection, can result in tissue death, and might even necessitate the amputation of multiple limbs. It's hard to overstate the crisis that burns put the body in.

The five most common burn injury complications (and their treatment costs) are:

66% of cases: Disfigurement and scarring ($28,000 to $35,000)
57% of cases: Psychological complications and trauma ($16,000 to $75,000)
55% of cases: Skin deterioration ($38,000 to $107,000)
35% of cases: Sepsis, organ failure, and other infections ($58,000 to $120,000)
32% of cases: Skin graft failure and delayed healing ($37,000 to $110,000)

This also doesn't account for another common burn-related injury: lung damage due to smoke inhalation. It also doesn't account for inhalation of toxic substances related to chemical fires, which are common in industries like energy production and refining.

How to Recover from Serious Burn Injuries

Burn injuries take from people twice: they put them under the burden of medical bills while robbing them of their income or their entire careers. The losses from a single burn injury could rob you of millions in lost wages and treatment costs, threatening your financial security for the rest of your life. That's on top of the chronic pain, loss of mobility, and other issues caused by serious burns.

If you're burned in a fire or explosion, speak with Clayton, Frugé & Ward today to learn your legal options. Our firm has won hundreds of millions for our clients, including a $117 million verdict for a woman who was permanently injured due to someone else's negligence. It's our job to fight for you when you're facing the worst circumstances of your life. Let us see what we can do.

Get a free consultation today at (225) 209-9943. We charge nothing unless we win your case, so you have nothing to risk and potentially much to gain.