The Minnesota headquartered 3M business produced the Dual-Ended Combat Arms™ Earplugs that were used by military personnel from the years 2003 to 2015 during combat and training exercises in order to defend staff hearing from gunfire and explosions. Hearing issues are the most common issues suffered by soldiers so ear defense is a major concern for American soldiers. Based on various situations, the 3M Dual-Ended Combat Arms™ Earplugs were created to provide two different amounts of protection. The dual-ended plugs have a design that is very noticeable. As their name suggests, they consisted of two outward facing plugs, one green and one yellow.
While the yellow part was inserted into the ear, this is known as Weapons Fire mode. This level was designed to provide normal hearing for peak situational alertness. It would allow soldiers to communicate, receive commands and hear other important sounds on the battlefield while still providing protection from top level sounds like gunfire and explosions. This would have been the desired scenario in combat situations.
When the green part was inserted into the ear, this was known as Constant Protection mode. Constant Protection was created to stop all sounds more completely in order to offer complete defense. Per 3M, the mode is for high-level steady noise situations such as those in tracked vehicles and air support. This mode may have additionally been used in many standard practice 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) were designed for military use and used broadly by thousands of servicemen deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq between 2003 to 2015. The CAEV2 was designed to let two different protection settings, Open Fire mode and Constant Protection mode. The appropriate setting is determined by which side of the earplug is inserted inside the ear, yellow means Weapons Fire mode, green for Constant Protection mode. earplug lawsuit is created to allow for hearing speaking and communicating yet maintaining protection against damaging sound levels from gunfire and explosions. The Constant Protection level blocked all noise more fully that was useful for personnel operating in track vehicles, in air support or while regular training. Each settings were claimed to block noise up to a specific level but in recent legal action, the government has alleged that neither mode of the ear plug complied with the Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) that 3M claimed due to an unreported design flaw.
$9.1 million Settlement Between 3M and the U.S. Government In July of 2018, the U.S. DOJ reported that 3M had agreed to pay $9.1 million to resolve claims that they knowingly sold the Combat Arms Earplugs v2 to the American military without admitting defects that declined the effectiveness of the hearing protection device. The lawsuit was originally placed in 2016 under the whistleblower part of the False Claims Act that allows private parties to sue for the federal government when they think that a defendant has represented false claims for government funds. In this case, the whistleblower was granted $1,911,000 for their part in the lawsuit.
According to the DOJ press release, the settlement resolved allegations that 3M violated the False Claims Act by marketing or causing to be sold defective earplugs to the Defense Logistics Agency. More specifically, the U.S. alleged that 3M, and its predecessor, Aearo Technologies, Inc., were aware that the CAEv2 was too short for correct insertion into users’ ears and that the earplugs might come loose imperceptibly and therefore did not perform well for certain individuals. It was also claimed that this design defect was known to 3M but wasn’t relayed the Department of Defense.
Injuries to Personnel If the allegations against 3M are true, thousands of servicemen might have used fault prone earplugs that did not defend them as the product was supposed to. Based on the claimed design error, the earplugs may come loose while inside the ear unbeknownst to the soldier letting damaging noise to make their way into the ear. Harmful noise levels can have serious and permanent effects including partial or total hearing loss, or tinnitus, a buzzing in the ears. Hearing loss is one of the most frequent afflictions suffered by active duty and former servicemen. Tinnitus, which might be debilitating, is just as prevalent. According to a research scientist with the VA Portland Healthcare System, last year there were over 1.6 million veterans needing medical care for chronic tinnitus.
You Can be Eligible to Compensation If you or a family member were given Dual-Ended Combat Arms Earplugs during service in the military between 2003 and 2015, and have since experienced partial or total hearing loss or suffer from tinnitus, your case should be discussed with the Meneo Law Group to explore every option available to you.
|