Home Product Liability Defective Military Earplugs

Nebraska Defective Military Earplugs Attorney

Have You Suffered Hearing Loss Due to Combat Arms™ CAEv2 Earplugs?

Everyone who puts on a U.S. Armed Forces uniform deserves to be fully supported and protected. That includes being properly trained and given the best, most technologically advanced equipment possible. When a corporation supplies faulty earplugs to U.S. soldiers in combat situations, who then suffer hearing loss, that corporation needs to be held responsible – and those soldiers deserve to be fully compensated for their losses.

If you or a loved one is a military veteran who has been diagnosed with hearing loss or tinnitus (constant ringing in the ears), you may be eligible for compensation. Call (402) 505-8234 and schedule a free consultation with Bottlinger Law L.L.C.

Which Earplugs Are Defective?

The U.S. military recently won a lawsuit against one of its contractors over combat earplugs. The contractor, 3M, agreed to pay $9.1 million after it was found that from 2003 to 2015, earplugs provided to thousands of service members in Iraq and Afghanistan were defective.

The product in question is Combat Arms™ CAEv2 Earplugs - two-toned, dual-ended earplugs that come in several different versions.

The lawsuit noted these earplugs were poorly designed, and would “loosen in the wearer’s ear, imperceptibly to the wearer and even trained audiologists visually observing a wearer, thereby permitting damaging sounds to enter the ear canal by traveling around outside of the earplug.” Basically, the earplugs were too short, which prevented them from being placed deep enough in the ear to provide full protection.

The lawsuit was brought under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, a law that allows private citizens to sue on behalf of the government. The FCA is intended to punish companies or individuals who submit false claims to receive government funds. In this case, it was alleged that 3M knew about the defects back in 2000 and purposely held back the information, continuing to sell the earplugs to the military until 2015.

Veterans Have to Act Quickly to Recover

If you or a loved one has suffered hearing loss or tinnitus because of these defective earplugs, you should act quickly in order to be properly compensated. Any time a military supplier provides soldiers with defective equipment, they can be found liable for the injuries that result.

But cases like these, whether filed as a whistleblower claim or a class action lawsuit, are extremely difficult to prosecute. There are almost always short deadlines for when you can file, due to the statute of limitations. When the federal government is involved, the process becomes even more complicated.

The sooner you come forward with your injury, the sooner a solid case can be built. At Bottlinger Law L.L.C., our Omaha product liability lawyer understands complex cases like these. Call us today at (402) 505-8234 to schedule a free consultation.

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