AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson say the Department of Justice is looking into their wartime business in Iraq, where a separate lawsuit alleges the companies and others inadvertently funded terrorist activity by funneling money to the Iraqi Ministry of Health in exchange for contracts for drugs and medical supplies.
AstraZeneca, Pfizer, J&J and other drug and medical device makers were named as defendants in a complaint filed in October 2017 by veterans wounded in the Iraq War from 2005 to 2009 as well as families of soldiers killed during the period. The lawsuit claimed – based on the accounts of confidential witnesses – that the companies bribed terrorist groups running the Iraqi health ministry to obtain lucrative deals, ultimately supporting terrorist activities that led to the deaths of U.S. military members.
According to the complaint, officials running the health ministry’s import subsidy under Saddam Hussein’s regime routinely pushed foreign suppliers for kickbacks on deals awarded through the United Nation’s Oil-for-Food program. After Hussein’s government fell, the ministry was controlled by a Shiite terrorist group known as Jaysh al Madhi, and the suit claims the payments continued.
AstraZeneca “has received an inquiry from the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with an anti-corruption investigation relating to activities in Iraq, including interactions with the Iraqi government and certain of the same matters alleged in the lawsuit,” the U.K.-based company wrote in a July regulatory filing.
A J&J spokesperson said the company received an inquiry from the DOJ regarding matters set out in the civil complaint and is fully cooperating. The drug and medial device manufacturer denied the allegations included in the complaint and previously filed a motion to dismiss it.
“The United States Department of State did not classify the Iraqi Ministry of Health as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Rather, as part of its foreign policy to rebuild Iraq, the United States government supported the Ministry of Health and encouraged companies to do business with them. As such, our companies proceeded with supplying lifesaving treatments to help Iraqi physicians treat their civilian population. We will vigorously defend our position against these false allegations,” the spokesperson said.
Pfizer did not list any communications with Justice Department on the matter in a filing earlier this year and a spokesperson did not respond to request for comment.
