Nearly eight years into the case, Golkiewicz, the chief special master, brought in a mediator for settlement talks. Zuhlke recalled her despair -- and the special master's shock -- when the Justice Department refused to make a settlement offer. "You should have seen Golkiewicz's face fall on the table," she said.
Golkiewicz said recently that he was disappointed that the case didn't settle, but that didn't mean "that one side or the other was at fault."
Still, he said, the case took far too long, and the Zuhlkes "had every reason to feel frustrated."
As it turned out, the government lost its all-or-nothing gamble. In July 2001, Special Master George Hastings ruled that Rachel was entitled to compensation. Fifteen months later, he granted a multimillion-dollar award, including $925,000 for her pain and suffering, future lost earnings and past medical bills, and at least $90,000 a year for living and healthcare costs.
Although relieved that the case is finally over, Zuhlke still struggles with grief over what happened to her child, now a young woman. Rachel's life, she said, "is so different from what it should be at 20."
And she still finds it "unfathomable" that the government fought her claim for so long, Zuhlke said. "My little girl hadn't done anything wrong."
