Individuals who suffer severe burns are often required to undergo extensive skin graft surgeries in order to correct and treat their injuries. Even with costly skin graft procedures, lengthy hospital stays, and ongoing care, burn injuries can leave individuals with lifelong disfigurement and debilitation, limiting their ability to work and reducing their quality of life.

HOW MUCH DOES SKIN GRAFTING COST?

Skin substitution is a complex medical process, and can cost a great deal for those who do not have extensive medical insurance plans. The national average cost of skin grafting is between $1,900 and $3,000 per procedure.

In the event that a person should suffer a burn injury in an accident that leaves a permanent effect – known as a “residual injury” – such as scarring from skin grafts or amputation, the amount of their eligible damages can increase by a large margin. This is for obvious reasons, as residual injuries can cause a person to suffer over a long period of time. The more serious the effect of these injuries have on a burn victim’s life, the higher the compensation.

DOES SKIN GRAFTING CAUSE SCARRING?

Scars from a person’s burns or from the resulting skin grafts can be both cosmetically embarrassing and can make the affected area less flexible. If a person’s scars are on a joint or in any other area of the body that regularly flexes, such as the webbings of the fingers or toes, they can cause a permanent decrease in mobility and justify higher damages.

Unfortunately, certain social prejudices can skew insurance awards for the cosmetic damage of scars. For example, young, single women are often compensated more for their scars than older, married women on the belief that a scar will have a more serious impact on a young woman’s social life. Similarly, a woman will usually be considered to be more damaged by a scar than a man with the identical scar. To overcome some of these prejudices, injured parties can obtain a medical opinion about the cost of having the scar removed or repaired and include it in their demand letter to their insurance company.

BIRMINGHAM BURN INJURY ATTORNEY

If you have been forced to undergo skin grafts following an accident caused by another party’s negligence, the Birmingham personal injury lawyers at Glenda Cochran Associates Attorneys at Law can fight to recover compensation for your long term injuries, including your medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, and emotional distress. We have more than 25 years of legal experience and are ready to go the distance on your behalf.

Call 888.906.3955 or schedule a free consultation today to review your legal options.

There are currently an estimated 10 million recreational vehicles (RVs) and travel trailers in use throughout the United States and Canada. While many people enjoy the use of these vehicles on camping trips and vacations, most are unaware that a majority of these vehicles are made unreasonably dangerous and defective due to a defect in the design of their stovetop burners.

ARE RV GAS STOVES DANGEROUS?

Yes, since a majority of RVs sold in the U.S. are sold with stoves and cooktops that lack flame failure devices (FFDs). FFDs work to prevent dangerous buildups of propane gas by shutting off its flow if a stove should fail to light, is left on, or the flame is extinguished.

Stoves that do not have FFDs run the risk of leaking huge amounts of propane into a small, mostly airtight RV in a short amount of time, causing life-altering explosions. Gas can begin to leak from playing children, defects in the propane tank, “senior moments,” brushing up against the burner knob, or the flame failure from wind or spilling liquid.

Leaked propane can explode if ignited from:

• Cigarette lighters
• Static electricity
• The stove’s sparker knob
• Electric appliances

Interestingly, FFDs are equipped on many other standard RV appliances such as ovens and water heaters, but are strangely absent from cooktops – despite only costing around $4.00 each. These safety devices have been around for decades and are mandatory on RV cooktops in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. The Recreational Vehicle Industry Association has continued to turn a blind eye to this danger.

PROPANE DETECTORS ARE NOT ENOUGH

Leaks that occur overnight can be particularly dangerous, as even people with a normal, unimpaired sense of smell are oftentimes unable to notice the odor of ethanethiol if exposed to the gas for an extended period of time. The smell of propane odorant itself is oftentimes insufficient to wake a recreational vehicle’s sleeping occupants.

Certain RV manufacturers have chosen to include propane detectors in their vehicles that are capable of alerting passengers to dangerous levels of propane. While this seems useful on the surface, many of these detectors fail to detect the presence of explosive levels of propane, creating a false sense of security. In fact, many explosions occur even with the presence of a functioning detector.

BIRMINGHAM RV EXPLOSION ATTORNEY

If you or a loved one have been injured in an RV or camper explosion, the Birmingham explosion accident attorneys at Glenda Cochran Associates Attorneys at Law can examine the details of your case and pursue fair financial recovery on your behalf. If we are not successful on your behalf, you will not pay us a dime for our services!

Call 888.906.3955 or schedule a free consultation today to get started towards filing a claim.