3M will pay $9.1 million after supplying defective earplugs to the U.S. military

By Christen Smith

3M agreed to pay $9.1 million for allegedly selling defective earplugs to the U.S. military. (Photo: Staff Sgt. Micah VanDyke/Army Times)
3M Company will pay $9.1 million to resolve claims it knowingly supplied defective earplugs to the U.S. military, according to a news release from the Department of Justice published last week.
The settlement comes two years after a whistleblower, a California-based manufacturer of safety products called Moldex, sued 3M for violating the False Claims Act, alleging the company– and its predecessor Aearo Technologies — knew its dual-ended Combat Arms Earplugs became imperceptibly loose in the ear canal as early as 2000. The undisclosed defect remained a secret for years, according to court documents, as thousands of soldiers — reportedly more than half — sustained “significant hearing loss and tinnitus” while deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan between 2003 and 2015.
Meanwhile, 3M profited more than $9 million off its exclusive government contract, court records show.
“In addition to funding the military’s repeated purchases of the defective earplugs from 3M for more than a decade, taxpayers must also shoulder the massive expense of treating veterans with hearing damage and impairment, which represents the largest ongoing medical cost to the military,” attorneys for Moldex said in

Source: Guns.com