3M Spends More Than $450 Million in Legal Costs on Earplug Cases

3M Co. has racked up more than $450 million in defense costs as it struggles to fend off allegations defective earplugs it sold to the US military harmed soldiers’ hearing, court filings show.

The company — which has lost a slew of test trials over the earplugs — put a unit into Chapter 11 in July in hopes of corralling the estimated $7 billion litigation over the product. A bankruptcy court filing last month detailed how 3M’s lawyers are seeking more than $19 million in fees and costs for work on the case just between July and October, bringing the ...