January 23, 2026
A D.C. Circuit panel revived a lawsuit Friday accusing pharmaceutical companies of aiding a Hezbollah-linked militia's terrorism in Iraq, saying the victims behind the case have adequately alleged that the companies' participation was conscious and voluntary.
November 19, 2024
Hypotheticals were flying Tuesday morning at the D.C. Circuit, where a three-judge panel spent more than two hours trying to figure out whether a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision means they need to stop the revival of a suit accusing pharmaceutical companies of funding terrorism in Iraq.
November 01, 2024
One circuit court will hold an oral argument for the history books, with dizzying logistics and stakes surpassing almost anything on the U.S. Supreme Court's calendar. Other circuit showdowns will delve into the high court's latest opinions and flesh out fascinating feuds involving big beer brands and emerging theories of "administrative state" overreach. All that and more is making November a month of exceptional appellate intrigue.
September 04, 2024
Business and nongovernmental organization advocacy groups have urged the D.C. Circuit to rule that terrorism victims can't hold pharmaceutical companies liable for their injuries, citing a U.S. Supreme Court decision rejecting similar liability claims against technology companies.
July 09, 2024
Terrorism victims warned the D.C. Circuit against sending to a lower court a lawsuit seeking to link pharmaceutical companies to the attacks that injured them, saying a remand could delay the case and frustrate their efforts to collect evidence.
January 01, 2024
The 2024 appellate almanac is looking lively after eye-popping opinions and arguments in 2023's homestretch. As the new year begins, several circuit splits seem more serious, ideological imbalances are in the spotlight, and luminaries of the U.S. Supreme Court bar are locked in a burgeoning battle over alleged corporate complicity in terrorism.
July 06, 2023
A group of pharmaceutical companies have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate a District of Columbia Circuit Court ruling that found them liable for attacks that injured or killed U.S. soldiers, saying medical goods sales in Iraq didn't amount to funding terrorism.
February 03, 2023
The full D.C. Circuit will not review a panel's revival of a lawsuit accusing AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, Pfizer Inc. and several other pharmaceutical companies of helping finance terror attacks that injured or killed hundreds of U.S. service members between 2005 and 2011 by entering into lucrative medical goods contracts with Iraq's health ministry.
January 04, 2022
The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday revived a lawsuit accusing AstraZeneca, Pfizer and several other pharmaceutical companies of helping to finance terror acts — through lucrative medical goods contracts with Iraq's health ministry — that have injured or killed hundreds of U.S. service members and civilians in the country between 2005 and 2011.