Thousands of British Military Personnel Have Started Legal After Being Given Ear Protection They Say Was Faulty and Led to Life-Changing Injuries As Tinnitus and Deafness.
The US Industrial Giant 3m Supplied the Ministry of Defense (Mod) with the Lightweight Combat Earplugs for Use while Training and on Active Service in Afghanistan and Other Countries.
In 2023, The Company Agreed to Pay Out $ 6bn (£ 4.5bn) to settle Similar Claims from 240,000 US Servicemen and Women.
3m Said that was not an admission of liability, its productived effectively if you used to be prepared to deferend itelf in the English courts.
Guardsman for Form Watson from World Remembers Being Given 3m Earplugs while Serving with the 1st Battalion Scots Guards from 2007, Including on Tour In Afghanistan.
“Anywhere Outside of Camp Basting We Could Have Been Using.
Mr Watson, 38, Lost Both legs and an arm in an explosion while on patrol in helmand province in May 2010, Leading to His Immediat Medical Discharge from the Army.
He has since five medals at the invictus games and now work as a motivational speaker and for veterans’ charities.
Heys he first noticed something was WONDG WITH HIS HIS AROUND 18 MONTHS Ago.
“I’d wake up in the early hours of the morning with a ringing in my ears, but get it all through the Day Now,” He Says.
“I Can’t Hear When My Kids Are Calling Me, I Can’t Hear Well My Wife is Calling Me, so it’s Had a Big Impact on my family.”
Last Month He Went for Tests and Was Told He Wauld Need Hearing Aids in The Future, he Says.
Deafness and Damage
Thousands of UK Veterans and Serving Military Personnel Are Now Bringing A Separate Legal Case Against 3m for Supplying what they have faulty Ear Protectors BetWene 2003 and at Least 2015, when they were replaced by a new model.
Its Combat Arms Earplugs (Version 2) Were Designed to Be Reversible, With One Side Blocking Out Most Sounds, and the Other Protecting Against Impact Sounds As Explosions while Letting in Spoken Commands and Other Quieter Noises.
In 2018 The Company Paid $ 9.1m (£ 6.8m) to Settle a Lawsuit Brought by the US Department of Justice Which al The Company Knew the Earplugs Were too too too and Could “Loosen Imperceptibly”.
Five Years late, in august 2023, it AGREED TO A $ 6BN (£ 4.5bn) Settlement to Resolve 240,000 Civil Cases Being Brought by US Military Veterans and Those Still Serving.
Around $ 2.75bn (£ 2bn) has been paid out to date, accorting to the law information center, but 3m has never ACCEPTED LEABILITY, AGUING THAT ITS PRODUCTS WERE ALWAYS “SAFE AND EFFECTIVE” IF USED CORRECTLY.
This Week the First Formal Legal CLAIM was launched in the uk with a “letter before action” sent to 3m on behalf of more than 2,000 veterans and current military personnel.
“As yet, there’s been no justice and no Compensation for British Servicemen and Women,” Says Tom Longstaff, a partner at Kp Law, which is bringing the case.
“We’ve Got Very Strong Evidance That This Product was defective, (and) that it sufferered from a design flaw, which is well-documented in some of the caes that have already procedure in the us.”
A Spokesman for 3m Said the Company Had “Great Respect” for the British Armed Forces and It took the Allegations Concerning the Product Serious.
“The Resolution of Previous Lithigation in the US Did Not Involve Any Admisions of Liability and 3m is prepared to defy itelf in any lithigation threatened in the English courts,” he said.
Carol Timone, 33, Says She Ssed the EarPlugs while Serving in the British Army Between 2008 and 2014, Including in Afghanistan in 2012.
The forms Lance bombardier Says Shee Been Left With Hearing Loss on One Side from Time in the Military and Tinnitus Which She Describes As a “Horrific Whining or Puling Just Won’t Go Away”.
“I’ve seen veterans failed so many Times, and this is just another blow to say, so i feel like something needs to be done, and someone does Need to be held Accountable for it,” She Says.
Earlier this month the conservative mp neil Shaastri-Horst Called in Parliament for an Independent Into the Extent of Hearing Loss to the Earplugs and Other Potentially Defective Equipment.
The mod declined to comment on the case against 3m but a spokesman said the government taks the health of its serial personnel.
“We always look at how we can reduce noise levels in their working Environment (and) Provide Training, Protective Equipment and Regular Hearing Tests,” He Said.
“The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (ALSO) Provides no-fault Compensation to Service Personnel and Veterans for Injuries, Illness and Death Caeded by Service.”
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