3M is paying $5.5B to resolve 300k lawsuits over defective combat earplugs

https://qz.com/3m-is-paying-5-5-billion-to-resolve-300-000-lawsuits-o-1850780085

233 139 3 years ago

aabhay2• 3 years ago

The reality seems even worse. 1M+ cases of tinnitus or hearing loss linked to these earplugs, claims increasing double digits YoY.

Workaccount22• 3 years ago

The reality of these lawsuits is that everyone with an impairment who ever used or plausibly used said product in the past will put out their hand for a payout.

Is everyone lying in these suits? No.

Are large numbers of people lying? Yes.

It's like if dell keyboards were linked to arthritis. Suddenly everyone with arthritis is saying they used a dell keyboard for 15 years. They don't have to mention that everyone in their family going back 3 generations had arthritis.

aabhay2• 3 years ago

But don’t you think that’s the first thing that 3M’s counsel looked at to try and prove their innocence? Take the veteran incidence of hearing less divided by the population level incidence of hearing loss and see if that ratio went up after the introduction of 3M earbuds? And if there’s a significant change there then it’s likely that the earbuds were defective by design or there were manufacturing issues. At that point everyone who was exposed to that phenomenon DOES deserve the payout, as there’s a plausible risk that the earbuds worsened it.

autoexec• 3 years ago

I suspect there'll also be a ton of people who suffer from hearing damage because 3M hid the truth about their faulty product but who never join a class action, and that for many (if not most) who do try to get compensation whatever "payout" they get will be nothing compared to what they've lost.

Hearing loss is probably something most of us will deal with at some point, and I've spoken to a lot of people who are already dealing with it and every one of them wishes they'd had more time with good hearing. It changes their daily lives and limits their ability to experience and interact with the world around them.

Caligatio• 3 years ago

I'm not claiming to be an earplug engineer but I feel like it shouldn't be hard to ensure your product literally does the one thing it's supposed to do: block sound. Particularly if you know that your earplugs are going to be extensively used in very loud environments, i.e. combat.

I hope the $5.5B is well in excess of the military contract's price tag.

brianwawok• 3 years ago

Is it that simple? Ears come in all sizes and shapes, its possible you could make an earplug that worked great for you but not for some other people.

Peeping at news articles though, there may have been an internal memo where they admitted to knowing there was a mistake - but they continued to sell them. Very likely THAT is where the huge fine came. see https://www.greenmatters.com/business/3m-ear-plug-lawsuit

TylerE11• 3 years ago

It is absolutely not that simple, for the reasons you name amongst others.

m00x7• 3 years ago

Ears come in all sizes and shapes, its possible you could make an earplug that worked great for you but not for some other people.

But then it wouldn't be a legal issue since all earplug vendors would have the same issue, and it wouldn't be feasible to have a design that corrects it.

kube-system2• 3 years ago

That would be more simple... if that was what these were designed to do.

One of the requirements for these custom-made ear plugs were was to allow the user to hear quiet conversations when used in a certain way.

netr0ute• 3 years ago

There are these "audiophile" earphones from companies like Etymotic that are basically earplugs that block all frequencies equally and still make sound good enough to rival the top end of regular headphones, yet we don't hear of those kicking the bucket.

callalex• 3 years ago

Ah, the ol’ hacker news “Dropbox is just S3” post.

SoftTalker• 3 years ago

Weird, I use 3M earplugs when I'm in our data center and I think they are great. That's certainly not the level of noise as combat though. But they are much better than the squishy orange foam ones that the data center provides.

data-ottawa• 3 years ago

What sort of noise levels are in a data centre, or is the duration of noise the issue?

liveoneggs• 3 years ago

datacenters are super loud (many many fans + giant HVAC, mostly) but you don't appreciate how loud they are because it's continuous and the frequencies are weird.

Ear protection is definitely recommended if you are in one for days-at-a-time.

kube-system2• 3 years ago

These lawsuits are about this particular design, which was designed specifically for the military:

https://filecache.thecampaignroom.com/mr5cm_3mearplugfacts/1...

metaphor2• 3 years ago

Not all 3M earplugs are created equal. These[1][2][3], for example, are steaming piles of hot garbage. I carry a pair of 3M compact 21 dB NRR earmuffs because they're superior to these earplugs that are way too common in our production environment. The skull screws and corded variant are particularly egregious because they have a plastic stem embedded in the foam that can make insertion really uncomfortable and potentially hazardous if you slip or get smacked on the ear.

[1] https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v000153037/

[2] https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/v000181515/

[3] https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b00037662/

1970-01-012• 3 years ago

are steaming piles of hot garbage

Amazon shows all these plugs have mixed reviews with average rating. I use these 3M plugs and love them: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b00017636/

You should always find and match your desired band filter with a spec sheet: https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/885639O/3m-e-a-r-earplug...

crazygringo3• 3 years ago

Some context [1] that is missing from the article:

3M has said the CAEv2 earplugs, which were designed in the late 1990s so soldiers could carry only one set of earplugs in multiple types of combat, aren’t faulty unless they are worn incorrectly and 3M said it worked in “close coordination” with the U.S. military to develop the design.
3M tried to use the government-contractor defense, which allows companies to be protected if equipment made under a government contract is later found to be defective, but the court rejected the defense because there was never a written contract between the U.S. government and Aearo regarding the earplugs' design.

Unfortunately, I can't find any clear answers around whether they do always work when worn correctly, whether they were manufactured to specification or not, or whether the specification was ultimately (verbally?) approved by the government.

All of which makes it exceedingly hard for any of us to judge whether this was 3M being negligent in design or manufacturing, or the government being negligent in ordering something it knew or should have known was defective in advance, or the military being negligent in not ensuring soldiers were using them correctly, or multiple of these. Unless someone here has more sources?

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2023/08/27/3m-may-...

1970-01-012• 3 years ago

It sounds like (pun intended) one side of them was not working as described.

     The green end was designed to block out all sound. The yellow end, signaling “whisper mode,” purported to block out loud sound — but allowed the user to hear quieter noises, like conversations.

My source is hear (hah):

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/15/3m-legal-battle-combat-grade...

crazygringo3• 3 years ago

Thanks for that. A lot of interesting details:

“The purpose of the creation of [the Combat Arms earplugs] was to collaborate with the military to solve one of the longest-standing problems they have had, that soldiers won’t wear their hearing protection around loud noises and in combat,” Rucker said.
Rucker said the plugs were designed in collaboration with the U.S. military and tested by the Air Force, Army, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and others.
“3M has purposefully skewed this data by relying on hearing standards that do not measure frequencies most affected by noise, concealing the hearing damage suffered by veterans,” said Bryan Aylstock and Chris Seeger, co-lead counsel for the service members and veterans, in a joint statement.
3M disagreed with those claims, telling CNBC: “The data support what 3M has maintained throughout this litigation: the Combat Arms Earplugs version two were safe and effective to use. This has been confirmed by every independent, third-party organization that has tested the product, including the Army Research Lab, the Air Force Research lab, NIOSH, and others.”

Ultimately, whose job should it be to determine whether or not they're defective? If the military tested them in advance and determined they met standards, and they were manufactured identically to what the military approved, should 3M be the one held responsible?

remarkEon• 3 years ago

I was in the Army for a while and used these all the time. I had no idea that the yellow vs green end was for different sound levels, wow.

mkmk2• 3 years ago

Plaintiffs allege Defendants failed to warn or instruct of the following risks and dangers of using the CAEv2 as intended: (1) that the CAEv2 loosens imperceptibly in a user’s ears, thereby allowing damaging sounds to bypass the earplug and enter the ear; (2) that Aearo’s testing subjects did not follow standard fitting instructions, but rather used a reconfigured method of folding back the opposing flanges before inserting the device into their ears; (3) that following Defendants’ standard instructions for insertion of the CAEv2 would not achieve the 22 Noise Reduction Rating and would thereby pose a serious risk to users; and (4) that Defendants did not adequately or properly test the CAEv2.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-flnd-3_19-md-02...

TylerE11• 3 years ago

Wow, I had no idea they were that bad. 22NRR for guns at close range is...not much. Most range shooters will be using at least 30+ (which is WAY MORE than ~40% effective - decibels are logarithmic). Some will even wear 30+ plugs under 35+ muffs. (Which don't add, btw, again, logarithms, but doubling up does get you a few extra decibels reduction over either component alone.

SkyPuncher• 3 years ago

While not 3M's product nor the CAEv2, I have several pair "plain ol" soft rubber/silicone earplugs with a similar flange setup.

I've noticed they tend to easily slide out of position just slightly. A bit of ear wax, a bit of sweat, a swallow, etc nudge them just enough to break the seal. Since they're a fully sealed earplug, it's obvious when they shift and I push them back in. I could only imagine how frustrating that shifting would be in combat with these.

killingtime74• 3 years ago

I think you can take it from their settlement that they think they have some reasonable chances of losing. Fighting a lawsuit you are likely to win only costs a fraction of this amount.

delta-262• 3 years ago

It’s worse: https://prospect.org/power/monopoly-misrepresentation-and-ma...

nimbius• 3 years ago

tv commercial: "if you or a loved one..."

veteran: "what?"

tv commercial: "served in the military between..."

veteran: "served a delicious military bean?"

tv commercial: "you may be entitled to significant compensation..."

veteran: "I knew those dang earplugs wrecked my hearing but i didnt know people were eating them...i guess that explains the significant constipation..."

bkartal• 3 years ago

redditor: anything more original? common citizen: vow that is a good one!

PerryUlyssesCox• 3 years ago

3M also knows that many of the claimants are full of it - but a court would still side in favor of veterans so it makes sense to settle the cases.

"Nearly a quarter of the plaintiffs with impairment under either AMA or WHO standards reported their condition in hearing tests before they ever used the Combat Arms earplugs"

"Under WHO and National Institute of Health standards, more than 85% of plaintiffs have normal hearing."

hammock2• 3 years ago

"Under WHO and National Institute of Health standards, more than 85% of plaintiffs have normal hearing."

If a device degrades your hearing from supernormal to just normal, or from high-normal to low-normal, is that not still damage?

IG_Semmelweiss• 3 years ago

IANAL , but unless you have a reference point to start with , I don't think you could prove damages.

normal is a normal range, unless you can prove your "new" normal is sufficiently worse than what you started with

diego_sandoval• 3 years ago

1. There are hearing disorders related to noise exposure that may come without detectable hearing loss, like hyperacusis and tinnitus. See "Hidden Hearing Loss".

2. Most hearing tests only go up to 8 kHz.

squirrel6• 3 years ago

Were it not for the faulty design, they would not have been exposed to dangerous levels of noise.

But to your credit, there are plenty of arguments that could explain hearing loss at any degree, including voluntary consumption of ototoxic chemicals like alcohol and ibuprofen.

dogman144• 3 years ago

Full of it, or had hearing issues like everyone does in the service, and then goes to a live fire exercise every few weeks or combat with 3M plugs and the issue goes from bad to deaf?

UncleMeat• 3 years ago

Eh, SCOTUS happily sided with corporate profits over the lives of soldiers in Boyle v. United Technologies Corporation.

iramiller• 3 years ago

I’ve used the shaped orange foam 3M ear plugs extensively while riding a motorcycle. The wind noise is extremely bad for you given the duration and surprisingly high decibels.

One interesting thing I have noticed is that these plugs are extremely sensitive to being inserted correctly and despite extensive experience and good technique (which for me involves two hands, one to insert and one to pull the top of my ear for alignment) I still find the need to reinsert plugs on occasion.

Unfortunately the poor fit isn’t obvious until I am on the road at speed when the sound volume is higher than it should be. If this same situation arises in combat I can easily imagine that the higher intensity of noises would cause hearing damage far sooner and in addition it seems unlikely soldiers would call for a timeout to fix their ear plugs.

Cthulhu_• 3 years ago

I've got flange-shaped earplugs for the motorcycle, they seem to be just fine. Pulling up the ear is good practice for any kind of earplug though, I presume it straightens out the ear canal or something like that, I've used it for audio earbuds as well for a long time.

If they fall out, get different ones.

My dad had custom molded ones for his job (in metalwork), but that was well after the damage was done. He had tinnitus and he's now finally budged and got himself some subtle hearing aids.

idiotsecant2• 3 years ago

You can do the custom-molded ones yourself now, I had some for motorcycle riding and they worked very well. Unfortunately the ambulance cut them off of me when I got in a wreck so they are toast now, but they did their job great up until then!

I used https://earfuze.com/ but I'm sure there are better ones out now.

dharmab9• 3 years ago

I switched from the 3M plugs to Pinlock plugs for most riding. The Pinlock ones are suitable for around town, twisties and short highway runs, but allow me to hear engines, sirens, conversations, etc. They slide in easily with a little water. I still use the foamies for long road trips.

Reubachi• 3 years ago

Tangential but using water (which critically is not the same as sweat) to get earplugs in regularly would cause your doctor to have an annuerism.

I'm legit interested in this because I chase constant ear infections from needing to put in earbuds/plugs right after showering for my routine/work flow.

Have you ever had an issue?

jsyolo• 3 years ago

Why not use a full head helmet with windshield?

infecto4• 3 years ago

That just does not work unless you have bubble around your whole body and I bet even then it’s sufficiently loud.

Unless you find the perfect windscreen, most have lots of buffeting and it’s actually quite hard to dial it in perfectly.

Helmets do absolutely zero to block noises.

Edit: just to add. I think it stands. The helmet does not block any sound. It may be aero dynamic enough that it helps prevent additional wind noise but it’s not blocking sound. Ear pro all the time.

bogantech• 3 years ago

Full-face helmets are still very noisy at highway speeds

moonchrome• 3 years ago

If there's any airflow (and there better be for breathing and ventilation) there's wind noise at speed. You're always better off with plugs.

idiotsecant2• 3 years ago

You might be shocked to learn people have tried that :)

It's hard to believe the amount of road noise on most motorcycles. It's not really comparable to rolling down the window in a nice modern car with good aerodynamics.

dharmab9• 3 years ago

Just 18mph of wind is enough to cause permanent hearing damage. Windshields and helmets don't block enough of the air (the rider needs some air ventilation for defogging in cold weather and cooling in hot weather.)

If you try to fully seal the helmet you cause measurable oxygen deprivation. https://youtu.be/x_ej8sehs8k?si=9LtvP0TfhQzgNDVM

barrkel• 3 years ago

Even a quiet helmet, at speed it's like a radio tuned to static turned up to a noise level just below painful. Windshields can actually make it worse, depending on airflow - turbulent air coming over the top and around the sides of the windshield is louder than clean smooth air. Windshields do more for fatigue, weather protection and aerodynamics.

I wear hearing aids due to motorcycle-related hearing loss, and I have never worn anything less than a full helmet.

maerF0x02• 3 years ago

Custom mold earplugs from a ENT or other similar vendor could be a good fit for you (pun intended)

dharmab9• 3 years ago

Custom mold earplugs work _too_ well for motorcycling. They block emergency vehicle sirens.

I once got chased halfway down a mountain by a cop I couldn't hear (my KTM had nearly useless factory mirrors). Cop said he was leaning against n his horn and my foamies blocked it out entirely. Somehow I didn't get a ticket...

badpun• 3 years ago

Is it legal to wear earplugs while riding on public roads?

dharmab9• 3 years ago

Not only legal but strongly encouraged by our instructors to prevent hearing loss. There are riding specific earplugs tuned to block the wind and road noise more than sirens, horns, etc

odiroot• 3 years ago

In United Kingdom it's even recommend.

not_legal_yoda• 3 years ago

Does it make more sense to sue on your own in cases like this instead of going with the class action lawsuit in order to score a larger settlement?

Edit: clarity

Edit 2: From the article "$265 million: Total awarded to 13 plaintiffs who have sued over the earplugs to date" --> average of $20 million per settlement. At $5.5B for 300k lawsuits the result is an average of 18k per settlement??!! That appears to be a dramatic difference to the individual lawsuits.

mensetmanusman• 3 years ago

At one point the potential liability was for more than the US GDP, for a product the military still uses and says works…

Blackthorn• 3 years ago

This whole thing has soured my opinion of 3m ppe products as a whole to the point that I look at my respirator questionably. Does anyone know other companies that produce reliable respirators?

talldatethrow2• 3 years ago

Any gun enthusiast that has ever tried to take friends shooting knows how hard it is to get people to wear earplugs correctly, especially the foam ones.

I'd say about 75% of guys do it wrong but will fix it if you show them how.

Basically 100% of women I have taken shooting hate ear plugs and it's almost a relationship argument trying to get them to install them correctly.

crazygringo3• 3 years ago

Now I'm curious, can you point to what most people are doing wrong, and what leads people to hate doing it right? (Does it cause pain or something? What's the resistance?) Even if just a link or a video.

rascul2• 3 years ago

Here is how to properly use the inexpensive soft foam ear plugs:

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/content/earplug.html

What I often see people do is skip all that and just stuff it in the ear until it doesn't fall out. This does not get a proper seal. It might still be better than nothing but I doubt it protects much when used incorrectly.

Rebelgecko• 3 years ago

The basic steps to doing it properly are

1. Roll the earplug to compress it (similar to if you've ever made a snake out of play-dough). Most people do this properly but some people just immediately try to jam the earplugs in while they're flaccid, which prevents them from inserting very far.

2. While inserting the earplug, use your opposite hand to pull on your ear (eg use your left hand over your head to yank your right ear up a bit). This helps line up your ear canal. Most people don't do this

3. Hold the earplug in place for 10-30 seconds, so that the foam you compressed in step 1 has time to reexpand and lock in. I don't think I've ever seen someone actually do this step.

IMO the move for new shooters (especially indoors, where IMO it's a good idea for everyone) is to double up on ear pro. Use ear plugs in addition to muffs (bonus points for ANC muffs with amplification, so you don't have to shout). It'll reduce the sensory overload and physical discomfort that some people experience.

talldatethrow2• 3 years ago

Most people aren't squeezing it enough. They aren't putting it into their ear deep enough. And they aren't doing it fast enough, which causes it to be too big by the time they try to put it in deep enough.

With guys I can tell them that what they've done isn't good enough, and show them again on mine, explain why each step is important again, and they'll do it right.

With women I've found that they're annoyed I'm nitpicking their work or something. I go about it nicely, and eventually get them to do it better but still not really correctly. I'm at a sample size of atleast 6-7 women, atleast 10 men.

Either I'm picking dating partners really poorly, or there's is a real problem with women not being able to take ANY criticism these days.

Alupis• 3 years ago

Bring a spare set or two of over the head ear muffs. Really hard to get those wrong... At the range with friends I'll usually loan out my old pairs. I have a couple various quality/tier electric ear muffs, and some old school regular ear muffs.

The electric ones, even the cheap ones, usually get people interested in getting a pair. Being able to hear conversations, but still dampen gunfire is really nice.

rightbyte• 3 years ago

Has anyone tried those? Are they worse than normal cheap foam ones? I have never had any ear plugs that I feel is sufficient for gun shots.

ericcumbee• 3 years ago

I probably should not. But I still laugh when my father who has service related hearing loss heard about this lawsuit and his reaction was “They give them earplugs now?”

nsxwolf• 3 years ago

I've brought these to the range but I could never even get the damned things in my ears so I just used regular foam plugs.

exabrial• 3 years ago

The vast majority of vets I've heard talk about this admit they never actually used the ear plugs in combat... basically when things start happening they weren't reaching for earplugs... The real problem is the military provided no _practical_ combat hearing protection at all for the longest time.

warner25• 3 years ago

Yeah, one of the problems with combat is that it's unpredictable. Over much of the last 20 years, we (American troops) rarely had the initiative. Instead we sat, drove, or walked around essentially waiting to get attacked. Deliberate raids were done almost exclusively by a small cadre of Special Operations folks. So the choice was to wear hearing protection all the time, which seems unreasonable[1], or not be wearing it at all when a rocket or mortar randomly impacted or a car bomb exploded nearby or a fight broke out.

Of course, I'd also bet that most people didn't have their hearing damaged "in combat" because most people didn't see combat, or certainly didn't see much of it. I would bet that most damage was done on live-fire ranges in training, where we have whole days of rounds popping off, or working around aircraft, where there's no excuse for not wearing hearing protection.

[1] Although we eventually mandated eye protection whenever people were outdoors in Afghanistan. Getting everyone to comply with that policy, as a leader, was hard.

globular-toast• 3 years ago

Also aren't the kind of people that go into the army also the kind of people who wouldn't wear ear plugs because it's "uncool"?

esaym• 3 years ago

The sad thing is, the yellow 3m earsoft version (https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b00017636/) would probably have been fine in all cases. I've been using those for nearly 20 years. I wear them to sleep, for yard work, shooting, and even a brief stint in aviation. Typically get a year of use out of one pair before I have to change out.

ttpphd• 3 years ago

Protecting service members is a real challenge. I have a couple of papers investigating hearing protection and voice use in noisy military environments.

https://journals.lww.com/ear-hearing/abstract/2021/11000/eva...

In this study, we evaluated whether an extended-wear hearing aid could feasibly work as a hearing protection device. There were some issues, especially comfort, but perhaps once those issues are solved, extended-wear hearing aids might be a way to protect hearing while still enabling people to hear important situational and environmental sounds even if they have some hearing loss.

https://pubs.asha.org/doi/full/10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00150

In this study we found an important effect of noise exposures and temporary threshold shifts on voice problems among service members. To quote myself:

"A fourth hypothesis is that the relationship between voice concerns, hearing difficulties, and TTS arises from the trade-offs of wearing hearing protection in high-level noise environments. The use of hearing protection presents a challenge when selecting an appropriate vocal loudness level for effective communication (Brungart et al., 2012; Vaziri, 2018). In particular, individuals who wear hearing protection in high-noise environments tend to speak quietly, making them difficult to understand. People may overcompensate by talking too loudly (placing their vocal health at risk) or by removing their hearing protection so they can communicate more effectively (thus increasing TTS and placing their hearing at risk)."

delta-262• 3 years ago

They are going to pay more than that, nothing is settled and no one has to accept that.

Here is some reading about the details that should make your blood boil: https://prospect.org/power/monopoly-misrepresentation-and-ma...

3M is paying $5.5B to resolve 300k lawsuits over defective combat earplugs

Related Stories