Along with several other pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer is accused of financing terrorism in the United States.
The case began in 2020, when a federal court declared the charge unfounded. However, on Tuesday, one of the country’s appeals courts put the case back on the agenda.
The defendants, who are relatives of US soldiers killed in Iraq, say Pfizer and 20 other companies contracted with the Iraqi Ministry of Health to pay the ministry to be one of its suppliers. Meanwhile, the prosecution said, an armed group called the Mahdi Army, also backed by Hezbollah, is leading the Ministry of Health, which has also carried out measures against US soldiers. In other words, the companies indirectly financed terrorism in the country, the plaintiffs believe.
Lawyers for the companies previously said that the suppliers provided life-saving medical supplies and treatments to the suppliers after the 2003 NATO invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein’s rule in Iraq.
In this case, five groups of defendant companies — Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Hoffmann-La Roche, and GE Healthcare USA — issued a joint statement stating that developments in litigation in the near future will make it clear that the companies have no liability in connection therewith. . with the charge.
(via Reuters)
(Cover Image: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
