A special master is a kind of judge assigned to sort through a group of related cases. Court of Federal Claims, where Millman is adjudicating case #95-484V of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Which is to say, in the Office of Special Masters, U.S. How he got that way is why Michelle Clements is here. This boy, who suffered catastrophic brain damage three years ago, lies in his bed all day, unaware of the life around him. Andrew cannot eat - unless getting formula through a tube in the stomach can be called eating. Neither can he walk or talk, or smell the flowers or watch the leaves tremble on the maple tree outside his window. Andrew could no more board an airplane than fly to the moon. Clements, 30, a freckled, honey-complexioned woman wearing a purple blazer and black suede pants, will explain what has happened to her 6-year-old son, Andrew, who is home in Milwaukee with his dad. on a Thursday in a fifth-floor courtroom above Lafayette Square, and Michelle Clements has taken the stand in Clements v.
Clements?' asks Special Master Laura Millman.
Michelle Clements with her son Andrew, who suffered severe brain damage at age 3½.
D id the DPT vaccine make some children catastrophically sick? The question is at the core of the majority of cases before a special federal vaccine court - and the rules for answering it have changed.
