If your child received burn treatment at the Children's Hospital of Michigan Burn Center, their 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, and Michigan's 3-year statute of limitations makes early legal advice important.
The Children's Hospital of Michigan Burn Center in Detroit is one of the region's dedicated pediatric burn programs, caring for infants, children, and adolescents with serious thermal, scald, chemical, and electrical injuries. Children are not small adults — their thinner skin, developing bodies, and unique healing needs demand specialized pediatric burn expertise, and families across Metro Detroit and Southeast Michigan turn to this center when a child suffers a significant burn.
Pediatric burn care produces exactly the documentation a burn injury claim depends on. From the moment a child is admitted, clinicians record burn depth, total body surface area involvement, the mechanism of injury, and the full course of surgical and rehabilitative treatment. Because children face decades of growth, scar management, and potential reconstructive surgery, this record is essential to proving the lifelong medical, functional, and emotional consequences of the injury.
Many childhood burns arise from preventable hazards. Scald injuries from unsafe water heaters or defective appliances, house fires linked to faulty wiring or landlord negligence, burns from defective consumer products such as lighters, space heaters, or flammable children's garments, and vehicle fires all send Detroit-area children to the burn center. When a defective product or another party's negligence caused a child's burn, the family may have a claim on the child's behalf.
In a densely populated metro area like Detroit, the most common serious pediatric burns are residential and consumer-product related rather than industrial. Parents and guardians are often unaware that a manufacturer, landlord, or other party may be legally responsible for a child's injury.
When a child is burned because of another party's negligence or a defective product, Michigan law allows a parent or guardian to pursue a civil claim on the child's behalf. These claims can recover the full range of damages a burned child faces — a lifetime of medical and reconstructive care, scar-management treatment, pain and suffering, disfigurement, and diminished future earning capacity. Potential defendants include:
Michigan's statute of limitations for personal injury is 3 years from the date of injury under MCL § 600.5805, and Michigan follows a modified comparative fault system with a 50% bar under MCL § 600.2959. Importantly, in most states — including Michigan — the limitations period for a minor's personal injury claim is generally tolled (paused) until the child reaches the age of majority, so a child's own right to sue is typically preserved beyond the ordinary deadline. That said, a parent's related claims and the practical need to preserve evidence make early consultation essential. An attorney can explain exactly how these deadlines apply to your child's situation.
Pediatric burn records provide the clinical detail on which a child's damages case is built. Documentation from the Children's Hospital of Michigan Burn Center typically includes:
Your attorney will obtain these records with your authorization and build the case around them. An experienced Michigan burn injury attorney understands how to project the lifelong cost of a childhood burn and how to hold the responsible manufacturers, landlords, and caregivers accountable.
If your child's burn was caused by a defective product, an unsafe rental property, inadequate supervision by a caregiver, or another party's negligence, you may have a claim to pursue on your child's behalf. Common examples include scalds from unsafe water heaters, house fires tied to landlord negligence, and burns from defective lighters, heaters, or flammable clothing. Treatment at a pediatric burn center is strong evidence of severity. A free consultation will identify who is liable — no fee unless you win.
Michigan's general personal injury statute of limitations is 3 years from the date of injury under MCL § 600.5805. For a minor, the limitations period on the child's own claim is generally tolled until the child reaches the age of majority, so it is typically preserved beyond the standard deadline. Even so, evidence such as the defective product, fire-investigation reports, and witness memories can disappear quickly, and a parent's related claims may run sooner. Speak with an attorney as early as possible.
Yes. As a parent or legal guardian, you have the right under HIPAA and Michigan law to copies of your child's complete medical records. Submit a written authorization through the hospital's medical records department, or authorize your attorney to request them on your behalf — usually the most efficient approach when records are needed for litigation.
Get a free case review from a burn injury attorney familiar with pediatric burns in Metro Detroit.
A serious burn can affect a child for decades. If a defective product or another party's negligence was responsible, Michigan law lets you act on your child's behalf. Get your free review today and protect their rights.
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