Nursing home abuse has been called the hidden crime because it can be difficult to recognize, has been concealed by nursing home staff, or the victim is too frightened or incapacitated to report the mistreatment. An estimated 84% of abuse cases go unreported or unrecognized.

The Law Office of Paul Hogan, LLC is committed to protecting the rights of nursing home residents and aggressively pursuing those who inflict injury on these defenseless victims. We have successfully represented many clients in Wichita city, Sedgwick County and throughout the state of Kansas in personal injury and wrongful death claims, including nursing home abuse. Those who are injured or die because of malicious or uncaring care-givers are entitled to justice. While our attorneys cannot eliminate the damage caused by negligent nursing homes, we can hold the guilty accountable and help to ease the future through compensation for the damages you have suffered. At the Law Office of Paul Hogan, LLC, we believe that achieving justice on behalf of the injured victim is the highest and best expression of the art of practicing law.

Even with strict regulations, nursing home residents suffer abuse and neglect at the hands of those charged with helping them. Abuse may take the form of assault or battery, sexual abuse, rape, unnecessary physical restraint, insufficient food or water or the improper use of medication. Residents who are neglected may suffer lack of hygiene, lack of medical attention, bedsores, malnutrition, dehydration, emotional isolation, and "slip and fall" accidents.

While many nursing homes provide quality care and support for their residents, a recent General Accounting Office (GAO) study reported that 25% of the nations' over 17,000 nursing facilities "…had deficiencies that caused actual harm to residents or placed residents at risk of death or serious jeopardy". Under the Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987, a nursing home is required to "provide services and activities to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental and psychosocial well-being of each resident" in accordance with a specific plan of care. To obtain Medicare and Medicaid funds, nursing homes must also comply with the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations policies for long-term care that specify that Nursing Homes must:

• Have sufficient nursing staff to provide nursing and related services,
• Develop a comprehensive care plan for each resident,
• Prevent the deterioration of a resident's ability to bathe, dress, groom, transfer and ambulate,
• Ensure that residents receive proper treatment to maintain vision and hearing abilities,
• Ensure that residents do not develop bedsores,
• Provide appropriate treatment and services to incontinent residents,
• Ensure that the resident receives adequate supervision and assistive devices to prevent accidents,
• Ensure that residents are free of any significant medication errors,
• Promote care for residents in a manner and environment that maintains or enhances each resident's dignity,
• Ensure that the medical care of each resident is supervised by a physician and must provide or arrange for the provision of physician services 24 hours a day, in case of an emergency, and
• Provide pharmaceutical services.