The Justice Department settled a lawsuit with 3M in July 2018 that the company defrauded the government by selling earplugs with “dangerous design defects” to the military for “more than a decade” from 2003 to 2015. 3M agreed to pay $9.1 million to the government to settle the government’s complaint. This money did not go to the individuals injured by these defective earplugs.
