Personal injuries can take a number of forms: broken bones, traumatic brain injury, soft tissue damage, etc. All of these injuries have the capacity to cause a great deal of physical pain and suffering. Facial scarring is also a common personal injury sustained by persons involved in automobile and other accidents, but, maybe more so than others, it also causes a tremendous amount of emotional and mental pain and suffering. The daily reminder of a traumatic accident and social stigma associated with a permanent facial scar can be burdensome. You are entitled to fair compensation for both the physical and emotional suffering associated with your scarring.
Defining a Facial Scar
A facial scar is essentially a mark left after a wound to the skin has occurred. The severity of the scar is partially based upon whether the injury is to the outer layer of the skin, the epidermis, or the thick layer of skin, the dermis. If the injury is only to the epidermis, the scar likely will not be as severe as if the injury occurs to the dermis. There are a number of ways to treat scars and other cosmetic injuries, including simpler methods such as ointments, creams, and gels and other more costly methods such as steroid injections and surgery. If you require cosmetic surgery, your health insurer may not cover the cost. In that case, it is important that you retain an attorney to recover treatment costs from the at-fault party’s insurance.
In the context of personal injury cases, scars are a common result of the following types of incidents:
(1) Dog bites and other animal attacks;
(2) Motorcycle, pedestrian, and bicycle accidents where the victim sustains road rash; and
(3) Automobile accidents.
Scarring and disfigurement from an automobile accident frequently occurs as a result of broken glass thrown on impact. Attorney Shawn Howard handled a particular case last year where the seat-belted client, who was a passenger in a family member’s vehicle, was catapulted out of her seat into the windshield. When the glass shattered, it caused deep cuts to her forehead and hairline which left permanent facial scars. Based upon projections of costs obtained from a cosmetic surgeon, the at-fault driver’s automobile insurance company agreed to pay the full limits of the driver’s insurance policy.
Experienced Personal Injury Representation
Maginnis Howard offers free consultations and evaluations to all prospective personal injury clients. Our litigation attorneys regularly represent clients across the state.
Our lawyers handle all personal injury cases on a contingency basis. This means that you do not pay anything unless and until we make a financial recovery on your behalf. If you have sustained a facial scar, disfigurment, other bodily injury because of a dog bite, automobile accident, or other incident caused by someone else’s negligence, contact one of our Wake County personal injury lawyers at (919) 526-0450. If you would prefer, you may send a confidential website submission via our contact page.