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Theodore was awarded $22.5 million in damages. Army member Theodore Finely suffered bilateral tinnitus and noise-induced hearing loss after the 3M earplugs he wore failed to protect him from noise created by weapons, generators, mechanized vehicles, and helicopters. The lawsuit, filed in April 2021, alleged that U.S. On December 10, 2021, a Florida federal jury reached a verdict in one of the first lawsuits filed against 3M Company. More than 200,000 lawsuits against 3M Company are pending in Florida alone. Recently, however, veterans across the country have begun filing individual lawsuits claiming that the earplugs were defective and that the defect caused damage to their hearing. “They were selling these products for a huge profit to the U.S military for 15 years without telling them the truth about how the earplugs really worked and the defects that the company executives knew about.” military,” explained Bryan Aylstock, a Pensacola attorney.

“That was for the fraud that 3M committed in selling defective earplugs to the U.S. However, none of that money went to service members who suffered hearing loss. Department of Justice reached a $9.1 million settlement with the 3M Company to resolve allegations brought under the False Claims Act that 3M “knowingly sold the dual-ended Combat Arms Earplugs to the United States military without disclosing defects that hampered the effectiveness of the hearing protection device.”

Have any lawsuits been filed based on 3M Combat Arms earplugs? What’s more, the earplugs, which had been shortened to fit into military carrying cases, didn’t fit properly in many cases. As a result, the seal became loose and the soldier was not protected from loud noises. More specifically, when the earplug was inserted into the ear, the basal edge of the third flange of the non-inserted end would press against the wearers’ ear canals and fold back to its original shape. Unfortunately, it was later discovered that the 3M Combat Arms earplugs allegedly had a design defect that caused the seal to loosen in the wearer’s ear. Scott McElwain in the American Journal of Public Health. Marine Corps was so convinced of the effectiveness of the Combat Arms earplug that it ordered over 20,000 pairs, thereby temporarily depleting the entire national stock in 2003,” said D. Hundreds of thousands of veterans wore Combat Arms earplugs from 2003 to 2012. What problems are associated with 3M Combat Arms earplugs? What’s more, many veterans who score normally on hearing tests have trouble understanding speech as a result of an auditory processing disorder caused by blast exposure. In 2017, there were 1.79 million disability compensation recipients for tinnitus and 1.16 million disability compensation recipients for hearing loss. Wearing the black-end in the ear blocks all sound, whereas wearing the yellow-end reduces loud noises (such as explosions) while allowing the wearer to hear quieter sounds (such as verbal orders).įacing facts:Tinnitus (ringing in your ears) and hearing loss are the most common health conditions among military veterans. military for use in training and combat.Ĭombat Arms earplugs provide 2 options for sound reduction depending on how a person wears them. What are 3M Combat Arms earplugs?įrom 2003-2012, the 3M Company was the exclusive supplier of Combat Arms earplugs to the U.S. The manufacturer of 3M Combat Arms earplugs recently found out the answer to this question: lawsuits, lots of lawsuits. military personnel are not shrapnel wounds or broken bones, but rather noise-induced hearing loss.Īs a result, the military has spent millions of dollars equipping service members with earplugs.īut what happens if the earplugs used by military members are defective? It might surprise you to learn that some of the most common injuries suffered by U.S.