Judge punishes lawyer for using hashtag

A Pennsylvania judge recently overturned a $27.8 million verdict against the makers of the blood thinner Xarelto in a lawsuit by an Indiana woman who claimed the drug caused severe gastrointestinal bleeding.

Judge Michael Erdos issued a judgment despite the decision as a result of a declaration by the recommending specialist for offended party Lynn Hartman, report the Legal Intelligencer (sub. req.) and Law360.

Erdos rejected an alternate ground for overturning the verdict that was based on an Instagram photo by a lawyer for the plaintiff that used the hashtag “#killinnazis”. Erdos nonetheless reprimanded and punished the lawyer for the post, the Legal Intelligencer (sub. req.) reported in a previous story.

Hartman’s case is among around 1,500 Xarelto suits pending in Philadelphia County. Xarelto producers beforehand won three claims documented in Louisiana government court.

Hartman’s lawyers had argued the drug companies should have warned that U.S. patients taking Xarelto had a higher rate of bleeding than patients in other countries, and that some patients had higher levels of Xarelto in their blood than others.

The attorneys kept up that the specialist would have educated Hartman about expanded dangers on the off chance that she had tried Hartman for blood coagulation levels, and Hartman wouldn’t have taken Xarelto in light of the data. Erdos found the contention was too speculative.

The specialist affirmed that she didn’t talk about rates with patients, and she wouldn’t yield that the tone of her discussion with Hartman would have been an extraordinary, Erdos said.

Lawyers for the drug companies, Germany-based Bayer and Janssen Pharmaceuticals, had recommended another reason to overturn the verdict: a lawyer’s Instagram photo of the courtroom using the hashtag #killinnazis. The defense had claimed the hashtag and closing arguments pointed to plaintiffs’ attempt to link the defendants to Nazi Germany.

Erdos said the ‘killinnazis’ hashtag on the court photograph was “underneath the pride of the lawful calling.” Legal counselor Ned McWilliams had posted the photograph. Erdos rebuffed McWilliams by denying his genius bad habit status, which had enabled the Florida legal counselor to deal with the Xarelto claim in Pennsylvania.

Erdos ordered another lawyer, Emily Jeffcott, to pay $2,500 and perform 25 hours of community service for posting a courtroom photo with Erdos on the bench to Instagram. The photo was later used in promotional materials for Jeffcott’s firm.