A group of 20 cases and five alternates has been identified by the U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers, to be a part of early 3M earplug bellwether trials, set to begin next year.
According to a pretrial order issued on February 27, Judge Rodgers identified cases that will be a part of an initial pool from both filed and pending claims identified through a census program organized by the Court.
The parties must respond to written discovery by May 15, and complete core discovery by July 31, as per a previous order. The court will then create four trial groups and assign five cases to each group, which will be eligible to go before juries. The other five cases will serve as alternates.
Currently, more than 100,000 claims are filed by veterans, each raising similar allegations that their hearing loss injuries were caused by defective 3M earplugs that were standard issue by the government between 2003 and 2015.
The Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2 (CAEv2) was manufactured by Aearo Technologies, Inc. before being taken over by 3M in 2008. The dual-ended 3M CAEv2 combat earplugs served as a standard form of military hearing protection in foreign conflicts for more than a decade, from 2002 to 2016. The 3M military earplugs are made of green and yellow with a double-ended design. The green end is inserted to block all sound, and insertion of the yellow end reduces the sound of gunfire and explosives but still allowed the service personnel to be part of a conversation. According to several lawsuits filed, the defective military earplugs cause two primary medical issues, tinnitus and hearing loss, mostly among veterans in the Navy and Air Force. The product was discontinued in 2015.
SERIOUS ALLEGED INJURIES MAY INCLUDE:
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Hearing Loss
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Tinnitus Or Loss Of Balance
FDA SAFETY WARNINGS:
Though the FDA website listed 45 3M products under their recalled list, it does not include military ear protection or any medical device recalls for Aearo Technologies.
