The Minnesota located 3M business manufactured the Dual-Ended Combat Arms™ Earplugs that were used by armed services personnel between 2003 to 2015 during fighting and training exercises in order to protect soldier hearing from gunfire and explosions. Hearing combat earplugs are the most common issues suffered by soldiers so hearing protection is a major concern for U.S. soldiers. Based on different scenarios, the 3M Dual-Ended Combat Arms™ Earplugs were designed to offer two different amounts of defense. The dual-ended earplugs have a design that is easily noticeable. As their name suggests, they consisted of two outward facing earplugs, one green and one yellow.
When the yellow end was inserted into the ear, this was recognized as Weapons Fire mode. This level was created to provide normal hearing for top situational alertness. It would let soldiers to communicate, receive commands and hear other important noises in the combat field while continuing to provide defense from top level noises like gunfire and explosions. This would have been the desired scenario in combat situations.
When the green part was placed inside the ear, this was known as Closed Protection mode. Constant Protection was created to block all noise more completely in order to offer full protection. According to 3M, this mode is for high-level sustained noise situations such as those in tracked vehicles and air support. This mode might have also been used in many standard training exercises and environments as well. Alleged Hearing Risks Combat Arms EarplugsManufactured by 3M and its predecessor, Aearo Technologies, Inc, Dual Ended Combat Arms Earplugs, Version 2 (CAEv2) that were designed for military use and used broadly by thousands of personnel sent to Afghanistan and Iraq from 2003 to 2015. The CAEV2 was made to let two different protection modes, Open Fire mode and Constant Protection mode. The applicable level is determined by which side of the earplug is inserted into the ear, yellow for Weapons Fire mode, green means Constant Protection mode. Weapons Fire mode is designed to allow for hearing speech and communicating while still protecting from damaging noise levels from gunfire and explosions. The Constant Protection mode blocked all noise more completely which was useful for staff operating in track vehicles, in air support or during regular training. Each settings were purported to stop noise up to a specific level but in recent legal action, the government has claimed that neither mode of the ear plug complied with the Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) which 3M alleged because of an unreported design flaw.
$9.1 million Settlement Between 3M and the U.S. Government In July of 2018, the U.S. DOJ announced that 3M had agreed to pay $9.1 million in order to resolve claims that they knowingly sold the Combat Arms Earplugs v2 to the American military without admitting errors that hampered the effectiveness of the hearing protection device. The lawsuit was initially filed in 2016 under the whistleblower part of the False Claims Act which permits private parties to sue on behalf of the federal government whenever they believe that a defendant has submitted false claims for government funds. In this case, the whistleblower was awarded $1,911,000 for their part in the lawsuit.
Per the DOJ press announcement, the settlement resolved claims that 3M violated the False Claims Act by marketing or causing to be sold defective earplugs to the Defense Logistics Agency. Specifically, the U.S. claimed that 3M, and its predecessor, Aearo Technologies, Inc., were aware that the CAEv2 was too short for proper insertion into users’ ears and that the plugs might loosen slightly and then didn’t perform well for certain individuals. It’s also alleged that this design error was known to 3M but wasn’t relayed the Department of Defense.
Harm to Soldiers If the allegations about 3M are correct, many servicemen might have used error prone plugs which didn’t protect them as the product was intended to. Based on the alleged design error, the earplugs may loosen while in the ear unbeknownst to the soldier letting damaging noise to find their way inside the ear. Harmful sound levels can have serious and permanent effects including partial or total hearing loss, or tinnitus, a ringing in the ears. Hearing damage is one of the most common issues suffered by active duty and former servicemen. Tinnitus, which could be debilitating, is just as frequent. According to a research scientist with the VA Portland Healthcare System, last year there were in excess of
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