HHTM

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA — According to a new study, investigators at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and 37 other Children’s Oncology Group hospitals in the U.S. and Canada have found that sodium thiosulfate helps prevent cisplatin-induced hearing loss in children with cancer. Results of the randomized, controlled, phase 3 study, were published in this month’s online edition of Lancet Oncology.

Editor’s Note: Following the Hearing News Watch story last week, Department of Labor Withdraws Apprenticeship Program for Hearing Instrument Specialists, we received a number of comments. We wanted to share one of those comments today with our readers. The content of today’s post was received from Richard Giles, President-Elect of the International Hearing Society (IHS). According to Mr. Giles, the

MONTPELLIER, FRANCE — French biotech firm Sensorion announced promising new preclinical results obtained with its investigational drug SENS-401, which is currently under development to treat acute sensorineural hearing loss. The results were presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) in San Diego, California, last week. Sensorion’s investigational drug, SENS-401 (R-azasetron besylate), aims to protect and preserve inner ear tissue,

WASHINGTON, DC — The International Hearing Society (IHS) announced today that the US Senate unanimously passed H.R. 3471, commonly referred to as the “Fit to Serve” bill, on November 17, 2016.  The bill was backed in the Senate by S. 564 sponsors, Senators Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Jon Tester (D-MT). H.R. 3471 cleared the US House of Representatives in September of this year, following

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA — Valencell, a wearable and hearable biometric sensor technology company, announced this week that it is filing a patent infringement lawsuit against German hearable startup, Bragi. The company accuses Bragi and its subsidiaries of patent infringement over the Bragi Dash. The lawsuit comes nearly one year following patent infrignment suits filed by Valencell against Apple and Fitbit.      Valencell

WASHINGTON, DC — Prominent US Senators, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), announced today that they will introduce the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2016 when the US Senate returns to session. Citing recommendations from the recent PCAST and NAS reports on hearing aid accessibility and affordability, the bipartisan legislation would make certain types of hearing aids available over the counter (OTC) and

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON — Sound Pharmaceuticals, a Seattle-based biotech firm, announced this week that it has hired two senior executives. Paul Hoskins, appointed to the position of Senior Director of Clinical Operations and G. Michael Wall, appointed to the position of Senior Director of Pharmaceutical Development. The new executives join the company with substantial backgrounds in the pharmaceutical industry. Sound Pharmaceuticals hopes that the new additions will help

DETROIT, MICHIGAN — The Academy of Doctors of Audiology (ADA), in a press release late last week, announced that it had filed a lawsuit against the International Hearing Society (IHS) regarding the Tinnitus Care Provider Certificate. The lawsuit was filed in Detroit, near IHS headquarters in Livonia, in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. As previously reported at

BEIJING, CHINA — Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi announced this week that its latest phone, the MIX, will be the first to incorporate ultrasound software for proximity detection. By replacing the phone’s hardware proximity sensor with ultrasound software, the phone’s speaker can become “completely invisible” and allow the entire surface of the screen to be functional — all the way to the top edge of the

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL — Humavox, an Israeli-based startup, announced that it will be partnering with Starkey Hearing Technologies to bring wireless charging capability to the next generation of hearing devices. Integrating the wireless charging technology into Starkey’s devices will allow hearing aid users to simply “drop” their devices into the charging case to recharge, regardless of orientation in the case. The charging technology developed by