After working many years as a secretary at Tektronix in Beaverton, Jessie Bollinger was enjoying her retirement. She visited with her family and participated in the many daily activities offered at her Tigard retirement home. However, that all changed one day in 2005 when she realized that something was seriously wrong with her vision.

Bollinger had been under the care of Portland ophthalmologist Dr. Gerald Brooksby. He prescribed her daily glaucoma medication and examined her eyes every six months. Dr. Brooksby would tell her everything was fine. But it wasn’t. Bollinger was slowly and permanently going blind. When she went to see a new ophthalmologist, the new doctor discovered permanent damage to the optic nerve and ordered a Visual Field exam, which provided evidence of a serious loss of vision. As a result, Bollinger was ordered immediately to a specialist and eventually underwent three surgeries to save what little vision she had left.

Glaucoma is known as the “silent disease.” When it is not controlled, it ever so slowly steals a person’s vision. By the time patients realize their vision is impaired, most of their vision is gone. Unfortunately, medication by itself – the treatment given to Jessie Bollinger – is no guarantee that glaucoma is under control. To be sure it is under control, an examination of the back of the eye is also required. Using a “slit lamp,” an eye doctor is supposed to check the optic nerve to make sure there is no damage to it. In addition, the eye doctor should give a yearly Visual Field exam, which is a test to determine if the patient is losing his or her field of vision. In Bollinger’s case, her physician completely failed to give a Visual Field exam; moreover, his examinations missed ongoing damage to the optic nerve.

Bollinger was referred to Lawrence Baron by another attorney. Working on behalf of Bollinger, Baron filed a medical malpractice claim against Brooksby for his negligence. The case settled when Baron got the eye doctor to admit that he knew patients should have visual field examinations during their yearly appointments. Brooksby could offer no reasonable explanation for his failure to do so for Bollinger.

Bollinger is grateful for the caring, personal assistance provided by Baron. “I know there are other good lawyers in town but Lawrence is the best,” Bollinger states. “I can’t say enough about Lawrence and his staff. They always treated me with respect and were concerned with how I was doing.” Bollinger no longer drives and she was impressed that Baron sent a car for her when they needed to meet in his office.

Today, Bollinger remains in good spirits despite battling a number of serious health problems. “The money from the settlement has helped me to be comfortable and deal with my medical bills,” Bollinger reports.