Based on information gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 1.1 million people receive medical treatment for burn-related injuries every year in the United States alone. If you have been the victim of a burn injury in Texas, the most important step is to ensure that you are safe. Prioritize your health and seek medical attention for your injuries immediately. 

After you sort out the medical side of your circumstances, you might be wondering what your options are when it comes to legal compensation. Thankfully, personal injury lawyers are able to represent burn victims 

The Types of Burn Injuries 

Not all burns look the same. That is because there are many different types of burn injuries, ranging from mild to severe. But even the mildest of burn injury cases are still incredibly important, and it can be helpful for you to understand the type of burn you have sustained. 

According to the Texas Department of Transportation, alcohol-related crashes killed nearly 1,000 Texans last year alone. If your loved one died in a crash caused by a drunk driver, this number is much more than a mere statistic. Losing a loved one in a preventable car accident is devastating and overwhelming. Many surviving family members wonder what their legal options are in a situation like this. They ask, “How can I hold the guilty party responsible?” Individuals who have lost a loved one may bring a wrongful death claim or a survival action to seek justice and financial compensation.

Wrongful Death Claims in Texas

When someone dies because of another party’s illegal or negligent actions, the surviving loved ones have a right to pursue a claim against the at-fault party. In the case of a drunk driving accident, the at-fault driver may face criminal charges for intoxication manslaughter. While criminal charges may provide some degree of closure, criminal penalties do not offer restitution to the loved ones left behind.

Cancer touches the lives of millions of people all over the world. Sadly, many cancer patients do not survive. Others survive but must endure hours of painful treatments that result in massive medical bills. Typically, the sooner doctors and other medical professionals diagnose a person with cancer and begin treatment, the greater the patient’s chances of beating the disease. When cancer diagnoses are delayed or missed entirely, the patient may have the right to pursue a medical malpractice claim. The patient, or the patient’s surviving loved ones, may be entitled to monetary damages.

Failure to Diagnose Cancer

Cancer often starts with innocuous, mild symptoms. A person may experience pain or fatigue that they assume is the common cold or simply the result of working too hard. They may have a fever or notice they are losing weight. Although these symptoms seem like no big deal to the layperson, medical professionals know that sometimes even mild symptoms can be a sign of a much greater issue. Doctors use diagnostic tests such as blood tests, imagining tests, endoscopy, and biopsy to determine if symptoms may be a sign of cancer. However, some doctors fail to order these tests or correctly interpret the results. When a doctor fails to diagnose cancer in a timely manner, he or she may be guilty of medical negligence.  

Driving a commercial truck is not easy. Truck drivers must constantly remain alert to ensure that they are in control of these large, heavy vehicles, and they need to be able to respond quickly and effectively to conditions on the road. Unfortunately, there are a variety of issues that can affect a truck driver’s ability to drive safely, and driver fatigue is one of the most common, and most dangerous, of these concerns. When truck drivers are fatigued or drowsy, the likelihood of truck accidents increases significantly, and these collisions can cause serious harm to people in other vehicles.

Common Reasons for Truck Driver Fatigue

Spending long hours on the road is something that every truck driver needs to be ready for. Unfortunately, remaining awake and alert during a lengthy trip is not always easy. To address this issue, truck drivers are required to take regular breaks, and the number of hours they can drive is limited. “Hours of service” regulations require drivers to maintain logs of their driving time, and they can only drive a certain number of hours each day and within a week. 

In some cases, truck drivers may violate regulations and exceed their allowed hours of service, or they may falsify driving logs in order to spend more time on the road and deliver cargo more quickly. However, even when drivers follow all regulations, they may still become drowsy or fatigued due to issues such as:

As with most types of injuries, traumatic brain injuries differ in severity. Some people suffer a concussion, a mild form of traumatic brain injury, and do not even realize they are concussed. Other traumatic brain injury (TBI) sufferers are left incapacitated for the rest of their lives. A TBI may be caused by a fall, physical assault, work accident, car crash, or any other incident that damages the brain. If you or a loved one suffered a brain injury, you may be entitled to monetary damages.  

Personal Injury Claims and Traumatic Brain Injuries

Texas law allows an individual to file a personal injury claim and seek financial restitution if they are injured by another party’s negligence or wrongful act. A party acts negligently when that party fails to uphold a duty of care. For example, a doctor owes patients a duty to act with a reasonable degree of competency during medical procedures. Drivers have a duty to drive responsibly and follow traffic laws. Property owners have a duty to maintain a reasonably safe property for invitees.

Financial Compensation for Losses

The term “damages” refers to the negative consequences of an injury such as a traumatic brain injury. In Texas, a personal injury claim may result in the recovery of both financial damages and non-financial damages.