We have:

LifeMeter->IsFailing()
    -- whether the player would fail if a failure check was made right now
  bFailedEarlier
    -- whether the player was failing at some point
  bFailed
    -- whether the player actually failed

bFailedEarlier is set even in FailOff, but other than that the two
are identical.  Most of the time, use bFailed; in FailOff, the player
should never fail, so bFailedEarlier should be meaningless.

stepmania/src/ScoreKeeperNormal.cpp

@@ -281,7 +281,7 @@ void ScoreKeeperNormal::AddScore( TapNoteScore score )
 	const int Z = m_iMaxPossiblePoints/10;
 
 	// Don't use a multiplier if the player has failed
-	if( m_pPlayerStageStats->bFailedEarlier )
+	if( m_pPlayerStageStats->bFailed )
 	{
 		iScore += p;
 		// make score evenly divisible by 5
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ void ScoreKeeperNormal::AddScore( TapNoteScore score )
 
 	if ( m_iTapNotesHit == m_iNumTapsAndHolds && score >= TNS_W2 )
 	{
-		if (!m_pPlayerStageStats->bFailedEarlier)
+		if( !m_pPlayerStageStats->bFailed )
 			iScore += m_iPointBonus;
 		if ( m_bIsLastSongInCourse )
 		{