Constant ringings, buzzing, or low hissing in the ears.The following symptoms are signs that you may be dealing with hearing loss: These severe hearing impairment issues tend to occur because of noise from: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have noted that veterans are “30% more likely to have Severe Hearing Impairment (SHI) than nonveterans.” Additionally, veterans who served in the United States or overseas after 2001 were four times more likely than nonveterans to have an SHI. Both ends of the earplugs experienced the same defect. This information, however, was not provided to the military or military personnel using the product.Įven when soldiers used the combat earplugs as instructed, the seal to protect the eardrums would loosen. In order to get their Dual-Ended Combat Arms Earplugs, Version 2, to perform at this level, they folded back a portion of the earplug to accomplish the goal. It was discovered that 3M could not create earplugs that would block noise at 22 decibels. The company was able to file under the Qui Tam False Claims Act. In an attempt to develop their own earplugs, Moldex realized that 3M had provided false data, manipulated test results, and had provided incomplete instructions for usage. The lawsuit brought against 3M was actually started by Moldex-Metric, Inc., a 3M competitor. In the summer of 2018, the Department of Justice announced that 3M would be responsible for paying $9.1 million as a result of selling their defective military earplugs. Let Hotze Runkle PLLC help you secure compensation for medical expenses and other damages suffered as a result of your injury.Ĭontact Hotze Runkle PLLC today for a FREE, no obligation consultation. We will not allow this corporation to take advantage of you, especially when you have given so much to this country. You deserve justice for your pain and suffering. What makes the situation even worse is that the original manufacturers, Aearo Technologies – which was acquired by 3M in 2008 – knew as early as 2000 about the defect. It’s estimated that over 1.5 million soldiers could be affected as a result of these defective military earplugs. This has resulted in an uptick of veterans suffering hearing loss and tinnitus. This allowed for dangerous levels of sound and noise to enter the ear canal by traveling around the outside of the earplug. Over time, the earplugs would loosen in the wearer’s ear without their awareness. However, the stems of the earplugs were too short and did not properly hold deep enough into the ear. These “selective attenuation earplugs” could be inserted in one manner to hear speech and reversed if the soldier needed greater noise protection. The Dual-Ended Combat Arms Earplugs, Versions 2, were designed to offer two levels of noise protection depending on how they were worn. Two versions of the earplugs were created, with the dual-ended version being sold to the U.S. If you were a service member in an active war zone between 2003 to 2015, and have suffered severe hearing loss as a result of defective 3M combat earplugs, then contact Hotze Runkle PLLC today for a FREE, no obligation consultation. Now you deserve somebody to fight for you. military, they have yet to admit to any wrongdoing and have not accepted liability for the pain and suffering they have caused to our honorable military men and women.Īs a member of the armed forces, you sacrificed in your fight for freedom. While the company is set to pay $9.1 million to the U.S. Unfortunately, the damage has been done, and service members who were deployed in active war zones between 2003 through 2015 are now suffering from tinnitus and other forms of hearing loss as a result of these faulty earplugs. military over claims that they sold defective combat earplugs. Government contractor and manufacturer, 3M, has recently come under heavy scrutiny as a result of settling with the U.S. 3M Military Earplugs Lawsuit Texas Product Liability Attorneys Ready to Fight for You
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