Shamis & Gentile, PA issued the following announcement on Feb. 14.
Whistleblower allegations were revealed stating that 3M, a defense contractor, sold defective Combat Arms Earplugs, Version 2 (CAEv2) to the military from 2003 to 2015. The now-discontinued dual-ended 3M defective combat earplugs were reportedly standard-issue for military service members from 2003 to 2015.
3M Defective Combat Earplugs Causing Tinnitus & Hearing Loss
The 3M defective combat earplugs may have caused significant hearing loss in military veterans, including combat veterans who did tours in Afghanistan or Iraq; reserve members who were stateside but routinely fired weapons for training; as well as Navy and Air Force personnel. Current and former military service members who served any time from 2003 to 2015 may be entitled to compensation from 3M for their hearing loss or tinnitus.
In a whistleblower lawsuit on behalf of the U.S. government, a qui tam relator brought forth allegations that 3M and its predecessor corporation, Aero Technologies, knew about the design defect since 2000, when the combat earplugs failed to show any noise-reduction benefit. Yet, the 3M whistleblower lawsuit alleges, 3M continued selling the CAEv2 3M defective combat earplugs to the Defense Logistics Agency, which supplies equipment to U.S. troops, navy, and air force personnel. In its answer to the 3M whistleblower complaint, 3M admitted that Aero had tested the earplugs in 2000 and that the test came back with a noise reduction rating (NRR) of 0, meaning the 3M defective combat earplugs had no noise reduction benefits.
The U.S. government later intervened in the whistleblower’s lawsuit, with slightly different allegations. The United States alleged that:
“3M, and its predecessor Aero, knew that the CAEv2 [Combat Arms Earplug version 2] was too short for proper insertion in users’ ears and … 3M did not disclose this information to the United States and delivered the CAEv2 to the United States knowing that the product contained defects…”
In the settlement agreement for the whistleblower earplug lawsuit, 3M agreed to pay the United States government $9.1 million.
Original source can be found here.