Drugmakers Eyed in Iraqi Bribe Claims
Major international drugmakers and at least one medical device supplier are acknowledging one by one that they are under scrutiny from the US Department of Justice for allegedly funding Iraqi terrorists during the Iraq war and beyond.
AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson were among the first to disclose being approached on the matter, with GE Healthcare and Roche later weighing in. Most recently, Pfizer has come forward. Some of the companies have commented publicly, others acknowledged the cases in filings with the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).
The initial complaint was brought in October 2017 by more than 100 US veterans and their families, with the federal government more recently starting its own investigation. To win favorable pharmaceutical and medical device contracts in Iraq, the plaintiffs contend that the companies offered bribes to the Ministry of Health.
The lawsuits reportedly draw on evidence from 12 confidential witnesses, as well as public and private documents involving alleged briberies that begun under the regime of former dictator Saddam Hussein. After the collapse of Saddam’s regime, the veterans say the payments continued when the ministry passed into the hands of a Shiite terrorist group.
One alleged payment scheme is said to have involved providing ministry officials free of charge with drugs and medical equipment that could be sold on the black market. It was not explained how the companies could have profited from this scheme.
According to the US trade journal FiercePharma, the drugmakers that have spoken out on the lawsuit have denied any wrongdoing. AstraZeneca told the journal it has a “robust and dynamic compliance program, and we refuse to tolerate bribery or any other form of corruption.”
