Pharma companies have faced a gamut of allegations over the years, but a new lawsuit ups the ante by alleging several drugmakers paid bribes in Iraq that helped fuel terrorism. 

Filed Tuesday in Washington, D.C., the lawsuit alleged that top pharma companies Pfizer, Roche, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca paid bribes to secure healthcare contracts in Iraq. Those payments ultimately supported terrorism that hurt or killed U.S. service members, the plaintiffs alleged. 

More than 100 veterans or their family members are suing the drugmakers under the Anti-Terrorism Act. 

The lawsuit (PDF) said the "terrorist-finance mechanism was straightforward: the terrorists openly controlled the Iraqi ministry in charge of importing medical goods, and defendants—all of which are large Western medical-supply companies—obtained lucrative contracts from that ministry by making corrupt payments to the terrorists who ran it." 

Plaintiffs alleged that the companies "knew or recklessly disregarded that their corrupt transactions helped finance … attacks on Americans." 

A Pfizer spokesperson said the company "categorically denies any wrongdoing." Roche said it doesn't comment on ongoing lawsuits. Other drugmakers didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Over the past decade, a number of drugmakers have settled allegations of bribery and kickbacks overseas, including in Iraq, some of them related to the U.N. Oil for Food program. Johnson & Johnson in 2011 agreed to pay $70 million to settle claims that it bribed officials in Greece, Poland and Romania, and paid kickbacks to the former Iraqi government under the U.N. program.

Two Washington, D.C., law firms are handling the complaint, saying in a statement they filed the lawsuit after spending thousands of hours investigating. The allegations are based on info from 12 confidential witnesses, private and public reports, contracts, emails, and more, including even documents published by WikiLeaks, according to the suit.