Defective Military Combat Earplugs

Problem summary

Current and former U.S. military servicemembers who used now-discontinued Combat Arms Earplugs manufactured by 3M Company may have suffered hearing loss, tinnitus or another hearing problem due to defects in the combat earplug design. According to allegations raised in lawsuits filed against 3M and its predecessor, Aearo Technologies, Inc., the companies knowingly sold defective combat arms earplugs to the Defense Logistics Agency without disclosing design defects that prevented the earplugs from providing adequate hearing protection. As a result of the design defect, thousands of military servicemembers and veterans equipped with 3M’s trademarked earplugs during their military service between 2003 and 2015, may have suffered significant hearing loss, tinnitus and other lifelong hearing-related problems. Current and former military servicemembers who used the defective combat arms earplugs in combat or training may be entitled to financial compensation from 3M for their hearing loss, tinnitus or any similar damages or injuries allegedly caused by the defective earplugs.

About 3M Military Earplugs

Hearing problems, like tinnitus, are among the most common service-related disabilities affecting veterans in the United States, and in 2017 alone, more than two million veterans received disability compensation for hearing loss and tinnitus. Hearing protection is mandatory for all active-duty servicemembers, but the hearing protection provided by 3M’s military earplugs may not have done users much good. Rather than shielding military servicemembers from potentially damaging high-level noises from explosions and weapons fire, 3M’s defective earplugs may have put them at risk for hearing loss, tinnitus and other hearing problems by failing to provide the noise cancellation they were meant to.

The earplugs in question are 3M’s Combat Arms Earplugs, Version 2 (CAEv2) “selective attenuation earplugs,” which featured a dual-ended design intended to provide the hearing protection of traditional earplugs, while enabling servicemembers to communicate when necessary. The earplugs were shaped like two inverted cones connected by a single stem, and one side of the earplugs was designed to block out all sound, including voices, while the other side was designed to block out high-level noises like combat and aircraft noise, explosions and gunfire, while still allowing low-level noises like commands and conversation through. The earplugs were originally designed by Aearo Technologies, Inc., which was acquired by 3M in 2008.

One defective earplugs lawsuit alleges that “3M touted its Combat Arms earplugs as capable of allowing users to hear commands from friendly soldiers and approaching enemy combatants, unimpaired, in the same way as if they had nothing in their ears.” However, according to the Department of Justice, 3M’s Combat Arms Earplugs were too short for proper insertion into certain users’ ears, which caused the earplugs to gradually and imperceptibly loosen and fail to provide the desired noise cancellation without the user realizing it. 3M’s now-discontinued earplugs were standard issue for military servicemembers from 2003 to 2015, and thousands of combat veterans who did tours in Iraq or Afghanistan, and reserve members who routinely fired weapons for training in the United States, as well as Navy and Air Force personnel, relied on the earplugs to protect them from potentially damaging noises.

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Combat Earplug Side Effects

3M’s combat arms earplugs were used by U.S. military servicemembers to protect their hearing during combat and training, but instead, a design defect that prevented a tight seal may have exposed soldiers to lifelong hearing problems caused by damaging combat and aircraft noise or by firing weapons in training. Side effects allegedly associated with 3M’s combat arms earplugs include the following:

Hearing loss
Hearing impairment
Deafness
Tinnitus
Auditory processing disorder
Loss of balance
Ringing or buzzing in the ears

According to reports, Aearo knew about the problem with its combat arms earplugs as early as 2000, when testing conducted by the company indicated that the earplugs failed to provide any noise-reduction benefit for users. However, not only did Aearo fail to issue warnings about the defective earplugs, the company also allegedly falsified documents stating that the testing met specific military safety standards. In 2006, Aearo contracted with the U.S. government to provide millions of earplugs to the armed forces, and the defective earplugs were sold to the U.S. military until 2015, when the product was finally discontinued by 3M. Despite knowing about the design defect as early as 2000, Aearo and then 3M allegedly continued selling the earplugs to the Defense Logistics Agency, which supplied equipment to U.S. troops, Navy and Air Force personnel.

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3M Earplug Resources and Studies

3M Company’s $9.1 Million Settlement with the U.S. Government

CDC Report Indicating that Veterans are 30% More likely to Suffer from Severe Hearing Impairment

3M Defective Earplugs Lawsuit Signup

2015 Study Highlighting the Potential for Tinnitus to Lead to Anxiety, Depression and Other Problems

2017 Study Linking Post-Deployment Hearing Loss or Tinnitus with Depression and PTSD

Research Concluding that Hearing Loss is Associated with a Reduced Quality of Life

Research Showing that Older People with Hearing Problems Live More Limited Lives

Defective Earplug Settlements & Litigation

In 2018, 3M agreed to pay $9.1 million to resolve allegations that the company knowingly sold defective combat earplugs to the U.S. military, falsified test results and failed to disclose the design defect that put servicemembers at risk for hearing loss, tinnitus and other debilitating hearing problems. The lawsuit was brought in 2016, under the whistleblower provision of the False Claims Act, which allows private parties to sue on behalf of the government if there is evidence that a contractor submitted false claims for government funds. In the time since the 3M whistleblower settlement, hundreds of current and former military servicemembers who served any time between 2003 and 2015, have filed lawsuits seeking to hold 3M accountable for its defective military earplugs. And as more information comes to light about the faulty combat arms earplugs manufactured by 3M, hundreds, if not thousands, more lawsuits are expected to be filed in the coming months and years.

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