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The justices unanimously held in that case that Twitter did not "knowingly" provide substantial assistance to the Islamic State group and thus couldn't be held liable for aiding and abetting under the Anti-Terrorism Act. They said that the plaintiffs failed to show that Twitter and other tech companies did more than "transmit information by billions of people."

The federal government told the high court that while it "condemns in the strongest terms" the terrorist acts that caused the servicemembers' injuries and the "profound loss respondents have suffered," the D.C. Circuit's ruling was rendered without the benefit of the justices' guidance in Taamneh.

"That intervening decision clarified the standard for aiding-and-abetting liability under the ATA in ways that may bear on the court of appeals' analysis," it said.

In their Tuesday brief, the pharmaceutical companies said that if the high court chooses not to grant a GVR, then a plenary review of the lower court's ruling was still appropriate and "urgently needed" because it created two circuit splits that "carry serious foreign-policy consequences."

The companies said that the D.C. Circuit particularly split with four other circuits when it comes to the issue of direct liability by holding that indirect support to attackers can satisfy the ATA's proximate-causation requirement.

They said the D.C. Circuit also split with three other circuits on aiding-and-abetting liability by holding that a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization's generalized support and encouragement to a non-designated group means the designated organization plans or authorizes every attack carried out by the non-designated group.

They argued however that the case "more than satisfies the usual standard for a GVR, and there is substantial reason to expect that a proper application of Taamneh will lead the lower courts to dismiss the complaint on remand."

Representatives for the pharmaceutical companies and the servicemembers did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

AstraZeneca UK Ltd. and its affiliates are represented by Paul S. Mishkin, David B. Toscano, and Craig T. Cagney of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

GE Healthcare USA Holding LLC and its affiliates are represented by John B. Bellinger III, David J. Weiner, and Robert Reeves Anderson of Arnold & Porter.

Johnson & Johnson, its affiliates, and Ortho Biologics LLC are represented by Kannon K. Shanmugam, Jeh C. Johnson, and Jessica S. Carey of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP.