Hearing News Watch

On Friday, October 23rd the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) released a report entitled, Aging America & Hearing Loss: Imperative of Improved Hearing Technologies. After several public meeting held over the past year, which were reported  previously by HHTM, PCAST members voted and approved the report. It will be published in the near future. Hearing Loss is

CHENGDU, CHINA – in the Sichuan province of southwestern China, a group of 30 professional ear cleaners are campaigning for the government to recognize their centuries-old trade as an Intangible Cultural Heritage, according to a recent report by the Daily Mail and People’s Daily. The traditional practice of ear cleaning, a practice that has been conducted for hundreds of years, is

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – Third Rock Ventures, a biotechnology-focused venture capital firm located in Boston, announced the launch of a new startup company with the sole purpose of treating hearing loss. The new company, Decibel Therapeutics, raised $52 million dollars in Series A funding for its launch, with investment from Third Rock Ventures and SR One—the venture capital arm of pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline.{{1}}[[1]]GlaxoSmithKline is the world’s sixth-largest

STAEFA, SWITZERLAND — Major hearing instrument manufacturer Sonova, during its 2015 Investor and Analyst Day at its international headquarters in Switzerland, has confirmed that it will  incorporate 2.4GHz wireless connectivity, with a new chip, in its next generation of hearing instruments. The new chip will use the standard protocol, rather than the current 2.4GHz system used in conjunction with Phonak’s Roger Pen. The

Editor’s Note: Today’s post comes from HHTM’s Editor-In-Chief, Wayne Staab, Ph.D., providing our readers with an interesting analysis of just who might be interested in Starkey Hearing Technologies in the event that the company becomes available for sale.  With the recent upheaval at Starkey Hearing Technologies, speculation has arisen about the climate for a potential sale.  The reason for the speculation lies with the

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA — the Canadian province of Manitoba has announced that it will expand newborn hearing screening to all babies born in the province. The announcement comes a year after a study indicated “serious shortcomings” in the country’s newborn hearing screening protocol, with only two locations in the entire province of Manitoba currently conducting the screenings.{{1}}[[1]]See David Kirkwood’s 2014 post: Canada’s

WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAND — In an October 5th press release CVS announced it will be opening Hearing Centers at seven CVS/pharmacy locations in the Dallas and Cleveland areas. According to another statement, the CVS Hearing Centers will be open Tuesdays to Saturdays and be staffed by licensed audiologists and hearing instrument specialists. In addition the Hearing Centers, which will operate

EDEN PRAIRIE, MINNESOTA — In what may become a flurry of lawsuits, a shot was fired across the bow late last week, as a wrongful termination lawsuit was filed against Starkey Hearing Technologies seeking nearly $11 million in damages following the abrupt dismissal of four senior executives. The lawsuit, filed by former Operations Vice President Keith Guggenberger, alleges breach of contract, defamation of character

Gael Hannan’s new book, The Way I Hear It, was featured in a review this week at the Huffington Post on September 29th by writer Kristen Hansen Brakeman. Brakeman, whose work has been featured in the New York Times and the Washington Post, praised Hannan’s “humor and clarity” in her writing about what it’s like to live with a hearing loss.

A September 24th 2015 article published in the online edition of JAMA-Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery provided data on the relationship between hearing impairment and all-cause mortality. Lead study author Kevin Contrera, MPH, and MD candidate, along with his colleagues at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, combined data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in