3M Combat Arms Version 2 Earplugs
3M Combat Arms Version 2 Earplugs (CAEv2) are dual-ended earplugs that were intended to block high-level noise while allowing low-level sound (like a conversation) to still be heard. They were issued to the U.S. military between 2003 and 2015.
If you or a loved one served in the U.S. Military (including Reserves or National Guard) between 2003 and 2015 were issued 3M Combat Arms Earplugs and you have been diagnosed with tinnitus or hearing loss/damage, you may be entitled to compensation. Contact Yaeger Law to discuss the details of your potential 3m Combat Arms Earplugs lawsuit.
3M mislead the U.S. Military about its Combat Arms Earplugs
In July 2018, 3M agreed to pay $9.1 million in a False Claims Act lawsuit to settle allegations that it knowingly supplied the United States Military with defective dual-ended Combat Arms Earplugs. The settlement resolves allegations that 3M violated the False Claims Act by selling or causing to be sold dual-ended Combat Arms Earplugs to the Defense Logistics Agency. Specifically, the United States alleged that 3M, and its predecessor, Aearo Technologies, Inc., knew the CAEv2 was too short for proper insertion into users’ ears and that the earplugs could loosen imperceptibly and therefore did not perform well for certain individuals. The United States further alleged that 3M did not disclose this design defect to the military.
See https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/3m-company-agrees-pay-91-million-resolve-allegations-it-supplied-united-states-defective-dual and United States ex rel. Moldex-Metric v. 3M Company, Case No. 3:16-cv-1533-MBS (D.S.C.).
Failure of the 3M Arms Combat Earplugs May Cause Tinnitus & Hearing Loss
Yaeger Law is actively investigating cases of veterans and soldiers nationwide who suffered tinnitus (ringing or buzzing in the ear), hearing loss, and hearing damage as a result of defective dual-ended Combat Arms Earplugs. See https://www.disabledveterans.org/2018/08/27/tinnitus-anyone-3m-covered-up-its-defective-military-earplugs-since-2000 Between 2003 and 2015, the 3M dual-ended Combat Arms Earplugs were standard- issue for military service members. Hearing loss and tinnitus are some of the most common disabilities Iraq and Afghanistan veterans experience.
If you or a loved one was deployed to an active war/conflict in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, North-West Pakistan, Somalia, Operation Ocean Shield in the Indian Ocean, or Libya between 2003 and 2015, were issued 3M Combat Arms Earplugs, and have been diagnosed with tinnitus or hearing loss/damage, you may be entitled to compensation.