A military veteran has been awarded a $50 million settlement against 3M earplugs, alleging that the design is faulty that results in hearing hazards.
As per the lawsuit, the plaintiff suffered from hearing loss and tinnitus after using the company's Combat Arms Earplugs Version 2 from 2006 to 2017. It is the second-largest settlement amount against the company in the series of lawsuits.
Plaintiffs' lawyers said that the company has already lost millions in lawsuits to date. The plaintiffs even quoted that the company did not provide adequate information about the earplugs, faked the tests of the products and hid the flaws in the design.
Whereas the spokesperson for 3M responded that they will appeal the decision as the company followed the mandates and military designs. The company's official person even said that there are issues in terms of legal defenses and evidentiary rulings in the earlier trials as well, and will continue to defend its product.
It is believed that 3M might use the Chapter 11 bankruptcy move to dodge the growing earplugs litigations. A similar strategy is used by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to get rid of the talcum lawsuits against its baby powder.
3M's earplugs are designed in such a way that it eliminates all the sound on the battlefield and provides selective hearing when used in a reversed manner.
Currently, 3M faces 280,000 lawsuits from active and former military members.
