Kellogg Hansen partner Josh Branson. Courtesy photo

Litigator of the Week: Kellogg Hansen's Josh Branson Revives an Anti-Terrorism Act Suit Against Big Pharma Companies

The D.C. Circuit this week found that his clients, families of 395 Americans killed or injured in Iraq by the terrorist group Jaysh al-Mahdi, adequately alleged the companies aided and abetted the group by paying bribes to the country's ministry of health, which the group controlled.

January 07, 2022 at 07:30 AM

6 minute read

Litigation

Ross Todd
Editor/columnist

This week's Am Law Litigation Daily Litigator of the Week is Josh Branson of Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick. Branson this week got a ruling from a unanimous D.C. Circuit panel reviving claims under the Anti-Terrorism Act against five multinational pharmaceutical companies – Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, GE Healthcare, AstraZeneca, and Roche. The suit was brought on behalf of families of 395 Americans killed or injured by the terrorist group Jaysh al-Mahdi in Iraq. Plaintiffs claims bribes and free products the companies provided to the country's Ministry of Health ended up benefiting the terrorist group, which effectively controlled the agency.