All of this can lead to lack of sleep, depression, social isolation, and can contribute to suicide. The inability to hear well due to constant buzzing or hissing in the ears can cause: lack of concentration/focus, difficulty hearing when others speak, inability to hear sounds around oneself. More than an inconvenience, tinnitus and hearing loss can have devastating effects on a veteran’s life. Military members are consistently exposed to this type of sound, the sounds that 3M’s earplugs were supposed to protect service members from. In combat, they are caused by machinery, engines, and weapons fire and making sounds at very high decibel levels. Tinnitus, a ringing or buzzing in the ears, and hearing loss are preventable conditions. Readler of the Department’s Civil Division Government contractors who seek to profit at the expense of our military will face appropriate consequences.” – Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. “The Department of Justice is committed to protecting the men and women serving in the United States military from defective products and fraudulent conduct. The allegation in the DOJ documents state that 3M didn’t disclose the failure of these earplugs throughout the time of the contract. In spite of this, the firm became the exclusive provider of earplugs to the military, a contract that continued after 3M’s acquisition of the Aearo in 2008. The company was aware as early as 2000, according to DOJ documents that the earplugs were defective. This caused the earplug to come loose without the user’s knowledge, resulting in hearing loss.ĭuring the 1990’s, Aearo Technologies manufactured the Dual-Ended Combat Arms Earplugs. The DOJ pursued 3M and its predecessor, Aearo Technologies, Inc., alleging that the companies knew that the Dual-Ended Arms Earplugs Version 2 were too short to properly insert into the user’s ear canal properly. The allegations were that 3M violated the False Claims Act by selling or causing to be sold defective products. In July of 2018, the Department of Justice reached a settlement with 3M with regard to the sale of defective earplugs to the military.
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