Who are the judges in vaccine court? Is there a jury?
Congress created the office of Special Masters to be the judges of first instance in vaccine court. There are no juries. The U.S. Court of Claims appoints lawyers as Special Masters for four-year terms to hear vaccine cases. The petitioners or respondent, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, may appeal the Special Masters’ decisions to federal judges in the U.S. Court of Claims. The Court of Claims has eight Special Masters. In general, Special Masters manage vaccine cases and decide whether petitioners have established that vaccines caused injuries, and, if so, what damages the court should award. Read more HERE. The Omnibus Autism Proceeding is unprecedented in vaccine court. Because of the volume of cases and the significance of the Proceeding, the Court decided to have three Special Masters hear the test cases under the autism-vaccine theories. The three Special Masters hearing nine test cases on three theories of causation are Patricia Campbell-Smith, Denise Vowell an
