Syracuse, New York: Your Rights After a Chemical Burn Injury

Jed Dietrich, Esq., Recognized as a Super Lawyer, is Committed to Protecting the Rights of Chemical Burn Injury Victims in Syracuse and Across Onondaga County. Since Our Founding in 2005, Jed Dietrich, Esq., Has Helped Our Clients Secure More Than $250 Million in Damages. We Could Help You, too. Our Experienced Team of Burn Injury Attorneys Could Help File a Personal Injury Lawsuit and Make a Compelling Claim for Recovery.

Burns are complex injuries that often make recovery a long, painful, and drawn-out process.

The most common types of burns and burn-related injuries have familiar causes. Structural fires and scalding-hot liquids, like overheated coffee or a spilled restaurant entrée, are responsible for a disproportionate number of emergency room admissions. However, many burn injuries have little to do with heat and high temperatures. Chemical burns, which sometimes occur after being exposed to a harsh substance, can affect the body in much the same way as a thermal burn.

Mild chemical burns are usually treatable. More serious chemical burns, in contrast, can have a long-term impact. Aside from inflicting physical pain, chemical burns can force families to direct their savings toward medical care that can be as demanding as it is expensive. Chemical burns are also associated with later-in-life conditions, up to and including cancer.

Although most chemical burns are accidental, many others could be attributed to negligence. If you have sustained a chemical burn in an accident that was not your fault, you should not be left picking up the pieces, much less footing the bill for somebody else’s mistake.

The Dietrich Law Firm P.C. has spent decades filing, fighting, and winning cases just like yours. A recognized U.S. News & World Report Best Law Firm, we know what it takes to build the kind of compelling, evidence-based claim that judges and juries find persuasive.

Since our founding in 2005, we have helped our clients in Syracuse and throughout Upstate New York recover more than $250 million in damages. We could help you, too. Call Jed Dietrich, Esq., today at 1-866-529-5334 to speak to a chemical burn injury lawyer and schedule your 100% free, no-obligation consultation as soon as possible.

Chemical burns are typically the result of sudden exposure to a harsh substance, such as bleach, a cleaning compound, or a pesticide. Most, but not all, chemical burn injuries occur in the home or workplace. Young children are diagnosed with chemical-related injuries at a substantially higher rate than other age groups, simply because they are less familiar with toxins and are often inclined toward exploration.

However, despite the relative prevalence of chemical burn-type injuries in the home, serious accidents and serious injuries are closely associated with people who work in certain professions. In some locations, chemical burns sustained in the workplace constitute up to 67.5% of all reported chemical burn injuries.

Taking all of this information into consideration, three of the most prominent causes of chemical burn accidents include:

1. Accidental household exposure. Consumer-grade cleaners and garden-variety pesticides can be very dangerous if mishandled. Most of these accidents, from a legal standpoint, cannot form the basis of a personal injury lawsuit. Having said that, the law almost always provides some room for exception. If, for instance, your child was injured by a chemical cleaner at a family friend’s house or a school event, then the adult or adults responsible for your child’s safety could be liable for the accident.
2. Occupational toxin exposures. Blue-collar workers, particularly those who work directly with or in close proximity to toxins, face the highest overall risk for debilitating chemical burn-type injuries. Employers sometimes try to write off occupational accidents by attributing them to an individual worker’s negligence (or, in other cases, telling injured employees that the only compensation they are eligible to receive comes from workers’ compensation). This may not be true. Even if you are partly to blame for the accident, employers have a legal responsibility to ensure that workers receive appropriate training before being given access to dangerous chemicals.
3. Isolated trauma-related exposures. Chemical burns can also occur in relative isolation. High-speed car accidents, for example, can lead to the destruction, combustion, and spread of varied compounds and fluids. Even routine airbag deployments are notorious for exposing crash victims to harsh chemicals capable of causing both thermal and chemical burns.

You do not have to understand the exact causes of your accident to file a personal injury lawsuit.

Even if you are afraid that your case would not hold in court, there is a good chance that an experienced personal injury lawyer could help you investigate your accident, unpacking its causes and assigning liability to every defendant whose negligence caused or contributed to your injuries.

No matter where your accident happened, it is quite possible that the person you think should be held liable is not the right defendant or is not the only defendant.

Insurance companies and defense lawyers are not always forward-thinking.

In fact, controlling the conversation is a big part of their job. If you have a strong case, you may well receive an offer of settlement before you have the chance to speak to an attorney. The problem with these offers is that, no matter how generous they sometimes seem, they often intentionally exclude the support that you will need going forward. This is because chemical burns, even compared to other types of serious injuries, can have long-lasting consequences, many of which would not be apparent until months, years, or even decades after the accident.

People who have sustained severe chemical burn-type injuries, for instance, could have a significantly increased risk for conditions including, but not limited to, the following:

1. Esophageal strictures, a narrowing of internal tissue that can make it more difficult to drink, eat, and speak;
2. Perforations to and injuries of any internal organs exposed to the chemical;
3. Visible scarring, loss of pigmentation, skin discoloration, and other disfiguring injuries;
4. Significant disability, such as mobility-related disabilities and loss of vision; and
5. Cancers of the skin, stomach, and esophagus.

Some of these conditions, including cancer, are slow-moving and can take a very, very long time to fully develop.

If you are trying to negotiate an insurance settlement or have already received a preliminary offer, it is unlikely to account for the support you could need later in life. On the contrary, once you sign and agree to all the terms, a well-structured settlement agreement will probably include a clause barring you from filing future claims.

If you have been injured in an accident that was not your fault, you should not have to accept corner-cutting and bad-faith excuses, especially when they come at the cost of your right to a fair recovery. Do not take chances with your claim: contact the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. today at 1-866-529-5334 to speak to a personal injury lawyer near Syracuse and begin exploring your best options for effective legal relief.

Call the Dietrich Law Firm P.C. immediately at 1-866-529-5334 so that our aggressive, tenacious, and hardworking personal injury lawyers can fight to obtain the best result for your personal injury claim in Syracuse, New York. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and there is never a fee until we WIN for you!