If your child received burn treatment at Shriners Hospitals for Children Boston, the medical records document the full severity of the injury in precise clinical detail. Those records — burn depth assessments, total body surface area calculations, surgical logs, and rehabilitation notes — are critical evidence in a burn injury claim brought on your child's behalf. Massachusetts's 3-year statute of limitations applies, and a minor's own claim is generally tolled until the age of majority.
Shriners Hospitals for Children Boston is one of the nation's most distinguished pediatric burn hospitals, dedicated to the acute care and long-term reconstruction of children with severe burn injuries. Children are referred to the Boston Shriners hospital from across New England, the Northeast, and beyond — a reflection of the program's specialized expertise in treating the most extensive and complex pediatric burns, including those that require years of staged surgical reconstruction as a child grows.
Pediatric burn care is a distinct medical discipline. Children's skin is thinner than adults', so scalds and flame burns penetrate more deeply at lower temperatures and shorter exposures, and a burn covering a modest area can represent a life-threatening percentage of a child's total body surface. Shriners Boston provides the full continuum of care — acute resuscitation and critical care, debridement and skin grafting, treatment of inhalation injury, and the reconstruction, scar management, and rehabilitation that children need over many years and multiple procedures.
For parents and guardians, the clinical records generated by a specialty pediatric burn hospital are extraordinarily detailed, and when a burn was caused by someone else's negligence, they are among the most important pieces of evidence in a claim brought on the child's behalf. Understanding your family's legal rights under Massachusetts law is essential to protecting your child's future.
The most common causes of severe pediatric burns treated at Shriners Boston involve the home, rental housing, and consumer products — settings in which landlords, product manufacturers, and other third parties may bear legal responsibility. New England's dense, aging housing stock compounds the residential fire risk to children. The following categories account for a large share of the serious pediatric burns treated at the hospital:
When a child is burned because of someone else's negligence, Massachusetts law allows a claim to be brought on the child's behalf, typically by a parent or guardian, seeking compensation for medical care, future reconstructive surgery, pain and suffering, disfigurement, and long-term losses. Massachusetts tort law supports claims against:
Massachusetts's statute of limitations for personal injury claims is 3 years from the date of injury under M.G.L. c. 260 § 2A. As a general rule, the limitations clock for a minor's own claim does not begin to run until the child reaches the age of majority, giving families additional time — but the practical need to preserve evidence makes prompt action important. Massachusetts does not cap compensatory damages, so a child's claim can recover the full value of medical care, future reconstructive surgery, pain and suffering, and permanent disfigurement without an artificial statutory ceiling.
Specialty pediatric burn hospitals produce the most thorough and legally valuable clinical documentation available. Records from Shriners Hospitals for Children Boston typically include:
Your attorney will obtain these records with your written authorization and use them as the core of the damages presentation for your child. An experienced Massachusetts burn injury attorney understands how to read, analyze, and leverage the specialty pediatric documentation from Shriners Boston to maximize recovery at settlement or trial.
If your child's burn was caused by someone else's negligence — a landlord's missing smoke detector, a defective product, a utility's gas incident, a chemical manufacturer's failure to warn, or a childcare facility's unsafe conditions — you likely have a viable claim to bring on your child's behalf. Treatment at a specialty pediatric burn hospital like Shriners Boston is itself compelling evidence of injury severity. A free consultation will identify who is liable and what the claim may be worth. Call us or submit the form above — no fee unless you win.
Massachusetts's statute of limitations for personal injury claims is 3 years from the date of injury under M.G.L. c. 260 § 2A. As a general rule, a minor's own claim is tolled — the clock does not begin until the child reaches the age of majority — but the need to preserve evidence makes early action essential. Massachusetts does not cap compensatory damages, so full recovery is available for a severely injured child. Contact an attorney as soon as you are able.
Yes. Under HIPAA and Massachusetts law, a parent or guardian has the right to request copies of a minor child's complete medical records from Shriners Hospitals for Children Boston. Submit a written authorization through the hospital's Health Information Management department, or authorize your attorney to request the records on your behalf — which is typically the most efficient approach when records are needed for litigation.
Get a free case review from a burn injury attorney familiar with Boston and pediatric burn claims.
Massachusetts's 3-year statute of limitations and the need to preserve evidence make early, skilled representation critical — even though a minor's own claim is generally tolled. Get your free review today and protect your child's rights.
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